There’s something amazing about the beginning of a new year because you are given the chance to start over. Everything seems so fresh and clean.
You put away the Christmas decorations and the house gets scaled down, and once again becomes uncluttered.
A bare, empty calendar lies before you and the possibilities seem endless.
Everyone loves the feeling of starting again. You get another chance to do each day of the year all over again, and you are filled with a renewed sense of purpose to do it right this time.
You map out a personalized plan on how you will eat healthy, be kind to yourself and others, exercise and focus on the important things.
But with all those good intentions, don’t forget the real you. The deepest part of you that needs constant renewal and regular care.
Your spirit longs for His Spirit and that relationship can only be cultivated and maintained with premeditated purpose and intentionality.
In Romans 12, we are commanded to renew our mind. This is so important because that’s where everything starts.
If you feel an emotion, it starts with a thought. Every human action began with a thought. If you make a decision, you thought about it first, even if it was so long ago that it has become second nature.
Your thoughts drive your life. That’s also why 2 Corinthians chapter 10 commands you to take all thoughts captive and make them obedient to Christ.
God’s job is to turn your heart of stone into a heart of flesh. Your job is to continuously fill your spirit with the goodness of God.
Your spirit needs the truth of God’s Word and it longs for relationship. In the same way that you feel content and satisfied when you are spending time with a precious loved one, your spirit longs for Him, but even so much more.
This January, determine to fill your spirit to overflowing with the things of His Spirit. Pray without ceasing by keeping your focus and thoughts on Him at all times. Involve Him in every moment of your day. Lean into him at every turn. Soak up His truth by reading, meditating on and memorizing His Word. Deny your flesh by practicing a season of fasting those things that keep you distracted.
Just like you clean up the glitter and pine needles from your living room floor, clean out the cobwebs and evil traps of your mind. And in the same way that you prioritize your next step physically, emotionally or professionally, you must determine what your next spiritual step should be.
Pray always. Soak up His Word. Regularly deny your flesh to keep it in check.
Start the year off right. Be intentional.
Feed. your. spirit.
Psalm 119:97-104 (NLT)
“97 Oh, how I love your instructions! I think about them all day long. 98 Your commands make me wiser than my enemies, for they are my constant guide. 99 Yes, I have more insight than my teachers, for I am always thinking of your laws. 100 I am even wiser than my elders, for I have kept your commandments. 101 I have refused to walk on any evil path, so that I may remain obedient to your word. 102 I haven’t turned away from your regulations, for you have taught me well. 103 How sweet your words taste to me; they are sweeter than honey. 104 Your commandments give me understanding; no wonder I hate every false way of life.”