New Year's Resolutions

New Year's resolutions baffle me.  Seriously.  Baffle.  "This year, I'm going to lose weight."  Or "This year, I'm going to do better with my finances."  Or my favorite- "This year, I'm going to work on ME- I'm going to be better, stronger, happier than I've ever been before."  Give. Me. A . Break.

Seriously- Here I am sitting on my couch thinking, "I am very much overweight.  My family is in debt up to our eyeballs and I am so sad.  I make horrible choices with men because my self esteem is so low that I can't see straight ahead...where there are consequences."  BUT- I'm going to wait until the new year and then I am going to get right on track where I should be.  My question to you is, "WHY WAIT?"  If it happens to be, I don't know...November, and you find yourself in this situation, why not decide then to make a change?  Why do we eat and eat and eat over the holidays and then say, "Come the first of the year, I'm going to do better."  I realize that I'm typing this as a 115 lb skinny person and you're thinking that I am judging the heck out of you.  I'm not.  Each of us has things that we could make a New Year's resolution about.  TRUST me- I have LOTS of things about myself that I work on daily.  I am not a perfect person...But could you imagine if I stood in front of my band and said, "Hey Clarinets, you're playing that note wrong, but let's fix that after Christmas."  No.  If we find a mistake, we fix it immediately.  "This note is horribly out of tune, but let's live with it until after the concert."  Makes no sense, does it?

Check out this text from Mark chapter 1:

 21 And they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching. 22 And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes. 23 And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, 24 "What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are--the Holy One of God." 25 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be silent, and come out of him!" 26 And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice, came out of him. 27 And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, "What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him." 28 And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee.

Now, I'm not a preacher and I don't know the original Greek, or whatever language this was, but to me, as a layperson with no training reading this, I don't see Jesus waiting.  I don't see Him saying, "Let me finish this sermon and then I'll help you."  Basically, Jesus said to the unclean spirit, "RIGHT NOW, be quiet and leave this man."  And then the demon left IMMEDIATELY.  Maybe I'm wrong, and you preachers forgive me, but I don't see that  demon waiting a few weeks to leave the man's body.  At the risk of sounding like Beth Moore, (And God knows I don't want to sound like her,) I don't think God intends for us to stay in the bad place where we are.  God wants only what is good for us- He doesn't desire insecurity and addictions and all those other things we make resolutions about.  And He doesn't want us to live with those things ONE MINUTE LONGER than we are willing to.

I am not a "wait and see" kind of person and this often bites me in the tail.  (Anyone remember a vehicle I bought a few months ago???)  Most of the time, though, when I see that there is a problem, I tackle it head on and don't stop until it's solved.  Again, I am FAR from having all the answers and I don't pretend to...but my advice, though unsolicited, about New Year's resolutions, is, If you see that there is an area of your life that needs to be improved, don't wait.  Don't wait until the first of the year to settle a disagreement.  Don't wait until the first of the year to treat your body the way that God intends for you to.  Don't wait until the first of the year to make your part of the world a better place.  

You see, 95% of the people who join a gym in January are not still going to the gym in December.  These people annoy the people who DO work out because the gym is flooded every first of the year.  Their machines are taken and they can't get to the equipment in the gym.  We see the new year as a time to start over, a new beginning, a rebirth of commitment...but, if something is important enough for you to do it "At the beginning of the year," and REALLY DO it and STICK WITH IT- then isn't it important enough to do NOW?

Clarinets, let's go ahead and fix that note...And for goodness sake let's tune the band.  Otherwise the concert stinks and everyone dreads sitting through it.  Don't wait.  Do it.  NOW.