About this time a year ago many people wished you a Happy New Year. Did it come true? When you turn around to see the past year—which will never be yours again—can you, without regrets, say it was most certainly a Happy New Year? Did you cooperate with God to give it a happy ending ?

Now again God is entrusting you with a gift of 365 days deposited in your account. It is entirely yours. Every day is like a cheque. It is encashed and given you every morning. You can use it profitably... But if you do not use it, it is lost forever. On the other hand it can also fetch you eternal dividends. What a drastic difference that makes! Either nothing or eternal things. It is up to you to make gain out of it or loss.

You made many decisions. At the close of the year you find almost all the threads broken off in the middle. You never reached the end. You never touched your goal.

The beginning is always exciting. You are so thrilled at your decisions and encouraged by your every day performance. But then Mr. Discouragement comes and knocks at your door. Mr. Laziness snuggles into your bedsheet. Mr. Dullness has a long chat with you. Miss Waste of time gives a big hug and a kiss and you are out flat.

The reason for the abrupt disruption of your decisions is that you are fully convinced that you can never rise up from the initial sag. You swear to yourself that is the tomb of all your decisions. You simply cannot believe you can make it. You believe your wicked and twisted heart and say Amen to that Mr. Crooks when he keeps whispering in your spirit that these decisions are too much for you and it is foolish of you to have made them. Whereas the fact is you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you! You can make decisions and keep them and you must.

Why not make a decision not to break the decisions you make this year—and stick to it? Well, you can almost hear the devil retort, “Let’s see how.” He is all out on a war with you. But on the very first day of the year put on the whole armour of God, till you climb up the victory stand. You are really going to make it this year. You must know your enemy before you fight him. You must understand the tricks of the devil before you can counteract them. So sit and find out why you were not able to keep up your decisions last year.

First, your decisions were very vague. You had no solid idea in your mind when you made them. You said, “This year I will get closer to God.” That is not a clear goal. It is a wilderness where you can wander everywhere and get nowhere. Decisions must have definite set goals. As Paul says, “Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air” (1 Cor 9:26). Let’s work it out this way. How do you plan to get closer to God? a) By reading the Bible more b) By praying more c) By working more for Him. These are again abstract. They have no target to shoot at. Focus it a little more. a) If you have not read the Bible fully once, decide to finish reading your Bible fully this year. If you have done it already, then take up a Study Bible for this year and aim to finish the complete study of gospels or epistles or Old Testament prophets according to your taste or need. b) Fix the time and duration of your prayer. Morning 5-5.30 worship and daily needs; afternoon 2-2.30 missions; night 9.30-10 self-examination and family needs. c) Decide a target according to your line of ministry. For example, distribute 1000 tracts this year. Visit 12 non-Christian homes and become friendly with them. Start a Sunday School in a nearby slum, and so on.

Let your goals be realistic. Start small and achieve it rather than start big and faint halfway. Do not make too many decisions. Now you know what you expect out of yourself.

Secondly, you relaxed midway because you were not accountable to anyone. You were accountable only to yourself. So you were careless. If you are under your parents share your goals with them and seek their help. Or, two or three or a team or a family or a fellowship can join together to make the same goals and seek to achieve them. It gives mutual encouragement and enthusiasm and makes you responsible. “Daniel purposed in his heart.” He did not keep his heart’s decision in his heart too long. He told it to the chief of eunuchs. Now Daniel brought himself under the observation of someone that it became almost impossible for him to break his vow. Not only that, it was a team decision. The king’s delicacies were no easy temptation. We all know how susceptible we are in matters of food and drink. But since they were a team they could stand together. Maintaining a diary may be very valuable to help you pursue your goals. Set aside just two minutes before retiring to bed to recollect what you achieved that day and make a note of it. Let the diary be under your pillow always. This is a discipline you impose upon yourself. “I discipline my body” (1 Cor 9:27).

The third hurdle in the race is an unexpected break in the routine. It may be a long holiday or a prolonged illness or a period of lethargy. When you are out of it all, you are tempted to drop the whole lot. It looks easier to lose the battle and rest than to struggle towards victory with all your weaknesses. Do not give in to the temptation. You must persistently pursue your goals with utter sincerity. Start where you stopped and continue. If possible try to make up the loss by a little extra input. “Everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all (other) things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we an imperishable crown” (1 Cor 9:25). Never give up!

Fourthly, the problem of failures. God does allow failures in our lives that we may be wholly cast on Him and realise our human fraility. Failure is not the end. It is only the first step to victory. It prevents you from going the wrong way and teaches you what not to do. Tungsten was working in his laboratory to find the right filament which can conduct electricity and glow and yet not burn up. He looked up after his 100th failure. His friend sympathised with him, “I am so sorry you have not discovered anything after 100 trials.” He very seriously replied, “What do you mean? I have discovered 100 alloys which cannot conduct electricity and glow!” What a lesson to us ! That is turning our failures into triumphs! Failures, with all their ill-effects, give us a kick towards victory. A righteous man does not walk without falling. He falls seven times and yet rises up! (Prov 24:16). Seven failures do not mean it is not God’s will or the decision you have taken is wrong (as we naturally conclude). It only means God does not want you to give up even after the seventh failure.

Finally, the enemy of forgetfulness. “The wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart.” The root of your decision should be deep enough that the wicked one will not be able to pluck it. Give deep thought to what you decide. Write your decisions in your diary. Write a promise below that to keep you going. Write it in a small slip and keep it inside your Bible. Put a copy of it near the mirror. Place it on your work-table. Now you can challenge the devil if he can snatch it away that easily!

Keep bookmarks in your Bible, one at the beginning of your goal and the other at the end. Observe how the first progresses towards the second and do all that is possible to speed it up. Arrange the prayer circulars you have prayed for, one on top of the other and watch the pile grow. Keep the l000 tracts where you can daily see them and rejoice as they melt away. When you have established friendly relationship with a non-Christian family, get ice cream for your family and promise eleven more if they cooperate. It will become a family game. Children will help in distributing the tracts and drive you to your prayer closet when it is time! They will drag you to visit their non-Christian classmate’s home! You’ll soon discover that the target is too small for the year and you’ll need a larger one next year. Have a willing heart. It makes anything easier and happier. “If I do this willingly, I have a reward” (1 Cor 9:17).

I can hear what you say, “Oh, this way it is impossible to break decisions.” Impossible indeed! At the close of the year you’ll have your diary and prayer circulars and marks in your Bible, and family and friends to testify to your achievements and congratulate you for the HAPPY NEW YEAR!