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Before we leave January, 2025, we must take a look at the New Year’s resolutions we made.  January 10, 2025 is National Quitters Day.  This day was so named because many people who make New Year’s resolutions do not keep them.  In fact, only 8% of Americans actually keep the resolutions that they make.  Making New Year’s resolutions is a tradition that goes back 4,000 years.  While a long-standing tradition, it lacks substance in bringing about real change in the lives of people.  One person said, “I can’t believe it’s been a year since I didn’t become a better person.”  Another remarked, “Don’t live the same year 75 times and call it a life” (Robin Sharma).  Both comments rebuke a lack of real growth in personal life and character.  After all, making New Year’s resolutions is all about making decisions that will change our lives for the better.  Someone else said, “I don’t need a New Year’s resolution.  It’s the year’s turn to get better.”  Another person thought that making more realistic resolutions would help.  Here are some of them:  “I will get slightly older each day”; “I will eat more cheese”; “I will muddle through each day.”  Obviously, lowering the bar is not a good pathway for self-improvement.
New Year’s resolutions involve making life changing choices that enable self-improvement.  The reason most fail is the lack of discipline and commitment involved in success.  If most fail to keep New Year’s resolutions, then,  that would indicate most do not have the self-discipline and commitment to follow through.  This means that we have serious character flaws that hinder personal growth.  Perhaps our New Year’s resolutions should target this deficiency.
The greatest decision that we can make toward self-improvement is to follow the Lord Jesus Christ.  Jesus challenges us to “deny self and take up our cross and follow him” (Matt. 6:24).  Self-denial means that we renounce the old self, the old man of sin, and turn to God.  We are called to repentance (Acts 2:38; 3:19).  We must repent of our sins, put to death the old man of sin (Rom. 6:6).  We stop serving sin and we begin to serve the Lord in the pursuit of righteousness.  Peter states that the “lusts of the flesh” “war against the soul” (I Pet. 2:11).  Peace within can only come when we have been forgiven of our sins and turn away from sin which destroys the soul.  We obtain forgiveness of our sins when we are baptized into Christ.  “Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost” (Acts 2:38).  Our sins are washed away by the power of the blood of Christ when we obey the command to be baptized (Acts 22:16).  When we are cleansed of sin (forgiven), we are justified before God and are “washed and sanctified (I Cor. 6:11).  We no longer pursue a life of sin (Rom. 6:1-2).  Life in Christ involves a pursuit of righteousness.
The decision to become a New Testament Christian is the most important decision we will ever make.  This decision commits us to a life of discipleship.  We must be willing to endure hardships for the name of Christ and we must be willing to live each day for His glory.  We follow the teachings of Jesus and the example of Jesus just as children who follow in the footsteps of their parents.  We imitate our Lord and seek to please Him in all things.  The change indicated is absolute and complete.  We hold nothing back, but are wholly consecrated to God our Heavenly Father (Rom. 12:1-2).
We might make a New Year’s resolution to lose weight.  Paul indicates that bodily exercise profiteth little.  But, godliness profits for all things and has the promise of eternal life (I Tim. 4:8).  If you really want to change your life for the better, become a New Testament Christian.

“The New Year’s most glorious light is sweet hope!” (Mehmet Ildan).  This year we will shine the light of hope to the world.  Wonder nurtures intrinsic hope.  Wonder is about being in the presence of something truly amazing that transcends the mundane and everyday monotony.  It humbles us.  It lifts us up.  It excites us.  It awe’s us.  What is this wonder?  God.  The focus of our wonder is God.  Wonder is inquisitive awe in the pursuit of an understanding of all of the perfections of the excellent majesty of God!  God is the God of hope.  “Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost” (Rom. 15:13).  An important formula for the New Year:  hope is connected to faith (Heb. 10:22-23) and faith is connected to truth (Rom. 10:17), and truth is connected to God (John 17:17).  Thus, hope is connected to God (Rom. 15:13).  No God, no hope.  Hope is connected to God’s faithfulness to His Word.  God has the power to bring His promises to fruition.
What is Hope?
Hope is a positive emotion, a positive outlook.  Hope provides positive energy to make us resilient.  Hope is an optimistic state of mind based on an expectation of positive outcomes.  Expectation is tied to confidence which is tied to truth which is tied to God.  Hope means that we cherish a desire with anticipation of its fulfillment.  Hope looks to the future.  Biblical hope is confident expectation of good things to come based upon the faithfulness of God to His Word.  Embracing hope means that we must embrace God’s Word by faith.  We must have a living faith in order to have a living hope.  A living faith embraces the precepts and promises of God and so hope is anchored in the certainty that God can and will bring His promises to complete fulfillment.  Consequently, hope is not a mere wish.  We may wish that our favorite athletic team will win but we have no certainty of it.  The outcome is uncertain.  God’s Word cannot fail and so gives us a steadfast and sure foundation for our faith which undergirds our hope.  God cannot lie.  He does not permit His Word to fail.  This assurance is the basis of our confidence in good things happening as God’s fulfills His promises to us.   Hope enables us to bounce back from set-backs, overcome obstacles, see the possibilities, and be confident in God and our relationship with Him.  Embracing hope means embracing God.
God Is Faithful
Look back.  God saves by His power through His Son Jesus Christ.  He answers the prayers of the righteous.  He blesses continuously with His grace.  He chastens those whom He loves.  He uses us to serve in His kingdom.  God has been faithful to us and He has kept His Word.  The history of the Bible reveals the faithfulness of God.  God has never failed to accomplish His purposes.  Reflect on the present.  Truth is a crucial link in the formula given above.  hope is connected to faith which is connected to truth which is connected to God.  God cannot lie (Heb. 6:18; Titus 1:2).  Truth is intrinsic to the nature of God.  We embrace hope by embracing the God of truth.  “He that cometh to God must believe that He is….”  (Heb. 11:6).  God is and God is faithful.  “There hath no temptation taken you, but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that which ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape” (I Cor. 10:13).  God is the ultimate reality.  “Despair looks at immediate realities, hope looks at ultimate realities.”  Hope is grounded in the eternal and so never fades away.  “…and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him” (Heb. 11:6).  God is gracious.  He is full of lovingkindness.  We must pursue God and appropriate His grace for our lives.  God cannot fail us and will not fail us.
The Promise
Paul cites Isaiah 11:1-11 where Isaiah prophecies of the Righteous Branch an obvious reference to the Messiah.  The Messiah would be a root out of Jesse (David).  The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him.  He will possess all wisdom and knowledge.  He will judge in righteousness.  He will make peace and unify all men in Himself and thus the Jew and the Gentile will hope in Him because of the salvation He will bring.  This Messianic prophecy was fulfilled by Jesus of Nazareth.  Jesus is the hope of the world because He is the savior of the world!   Embracing hope means believing on Jesus Christ and becoming a disciple of Christ.  This promise of salvation thr0ugh Jesus the Christ is still powerful and continues for us today. “For the promise is unto you, and to your children,  and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call” (Acts 2:39).  This salvation is available to all people and is proclaimed through the gospel of Christ (Rom. 1:16).  The gospel must be heard, believed and obeyed in order to obtain it.  God calls us by the gospel to Himself. “Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” (II Thess. 2:14).  Those so called must obey the gospel (II Thess. 1:7-9) in order to have the hope of eternal life.  God imparts His truth to us in order for us to have faith in Him and embrace a living hope that we can be with Him forever in heavenly realms.  One day this hope will be realized.  O glorious day!