IT’S A NEW YEAR!

           

            The last time I wrote, we were in December, celebrating Advent and looking forward to Christmas and I gave you a to-do list to consider as you neared the end of the year; things like housing resolutions, year-end giving, copyright licenses, cancellation plans, winter hazards and payroll classifications for employees.

            We are now fully into the new year. Resolutions are something a lot of us do at the beginning of the year. What are we going to commit to? Weight loss? Exercise?

            Did you consider what you might commit to in the new year? Here’s a thought? Maybe don’t call it a resolution. Many resolutions are forgotten early in the year. I don’t know if not calling something a resolution will make a difference, but what if we called it a covenant?

            What’s the difference between a resolution and a covenant?

                        Resolution: a firm decision to do or not to do something:

                        Covenant: promise by a covenant or a pledge

            Many of us in the United Methodist Church start the beginning of a new year with the Wesley Covenant Prayer:

            I am no longer my own, but thine.

            Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt.

            Put me to doing, put me to suffering.       

            Let me be employed by thee or laid aside for thee,

            exalted for thee or brought low for thee.

            Let me be full, let me be empty.

            Let me have all things, let me have nothing.

            I freely and heartily yield all things

            to thy pleasure and disposal.

            And now, O glorious and blessed God,

            Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,

            thou art mine, and I am thine. So be it.

            And the covenant which I have made on earth,

            let it be ratified in heaven. Amen.

 

            So what if we started the new year considering what we would like to covenant to? I’m thinking, instead of considering how to lose weight, how about we consider what God is asking of us and how we could answer that ask?

 

 

            As a big “list maker”, I took some time at the beginning of the year to write down “topics” that I wanted to covenant to learning more about. I bought (or located in my library) a book for every topic, and I’ve committed to learning more about the eight topics I wrote down. FYI: one of the topics was choosing a book for “fun”. I think God wants me to lighten up a little too!

 

            So what do you think? What are the topics that will help you hear God?

 

 

Feel free to contact me at sranousacctg@twcny.rr.com or susanranous@unyumc.org with any thoughts or questions.