Pressing Onward!

Can you believe that 2007 is almost over? Just four more days! What happened to all the things I’d planned get done this year – the scrapbooks (one for each of my five children – HA!), the books I wanted to read, the closets I planned to clean? I seem to add four things for every ‘to-do’ item I cross off. When I think back I seem to remember the things that didn’t happen much more clearly than the great things that did.

As the year draws to a close, I want to look back and see how I’ve changed. What did I accomplish this year, where did I fail, and how am I a better person that I was a year ago? This has been a busy year for me, full of major life changes and new starts. I want to look at the blessings and find lessons learned in the areas that weren’t so positive.

Most importantly, am I more like Jesus now that I was on January 1, 2007? I believe that is the only goal I have that really counts.

How did your year go? Set aside half an hour between now and the end of the year – get up early or stay up late if you have to. Find a restful place and pray that God will reveal the areas of your life that are most important. Take a notebook of some sort, and write your answers to these questions:

1. What happened this year that I am most proud of and why?

2. What was my biggest disappointment? How could I have handled that situation differently (and maybe you couldn’t have…)?

3. What skills, talents, or personal abilities have I improved this year?

4. How has my stewardship of the things God has given me (finances, possessions, investments of all kinds) improved this year?

5. What life lessons did God teach me this year? How will I act differently because of them?

6. How is my spiritual walk? Evaluate how you learn more about Christ, the way you pray, the spirit of your praise, and the ways you worship and serve. In what specific ways have you become more Christ-like this year?

In his letter to the Philippians, Paul looks back at his life and he realizes that all the earthly things he did were useless. But he doesn’t dwell on his failures. He presses onward to fulfill Christ’s purpose in his life:

12Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3, NIV)

We, too, can forget our failings of the past year and press on to win the prize. Learn from all that has happened to you in 2007, and plan to start from where you are today as you move forward in 2008. Where do you want to be next year at this time? And what will you do to get there? Write your thoughts down and put them in a file labeled January 1, 2009. It will be fun to see how you did. A lot can happen in twelve months. Press on!