Moving Forward

By Cathy Irvin
Staff Writer

CBN.com – Once again some people will begin the countdown, 10, 9, 8... until they reach number 1 when the beautiful sparkling ball drops in Times Square and they all can say Happy New Year. Some will wonder where the time went. Others will sleep away the old year and wake up to a new one like they always do. Many will be in Church praying for God to bless them, their family, friends, and even their enemies.

However one chooses to celebrate the New Year, we should pray daily for God to bless what we do in it and forget "the list" -- you know, those resolutions that we have all made in some point and time. Haven’t we failed to get them all done, forgotten them or perhaps even misplaced them? Yes, we often just dismiss them anyway entirely.

It is true that man has a plan, but God orders our steps. I did away with my list long ago, except that I try to work on the Scripture verse that says, 'I must decrease so that He will increase in my life' (John 3:30).

We can only reflect on some things we feel were done right to bless others and there we can find satisfaction in knowing that the Lord is pleased. There are many personal goals that all of us did not fulfill, so it is best to thank God for the positives and not dwell on the negative. We must understand that the Bible tells us to press on towards the mark of the high calling in Christ Jesus. We are in a race and we can’t go back and retrieve any time lost from the previous year.

I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:14 King James Version)

Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. (1 Corinthians 9:24 King James Version)

We are constantly to be moving forward, growing and doing all we can to get the message of God’s love to others. We must make sure that we are living a life that reflects Christ’s nature to attract others to Him.

So there is no list of do’s and don’ts for me. Plain and simply put, I want to live my life one day at a time, asking the Lord what He requires. I will take each day and say, 'Lord, what is on your agenda for me today?' If I can find out His plans on a daily basis then I won’t be disappointed at the end of the year.