Happy New Year! It’s official 2013. The Holidays are over and many of us are gearing up to face yet another year. As we do, resolutions will be made. Some will be kept, while others will be broken. Perusing a poll of New Year’s resolutions this morning, I find most dealing with weight loss, fitness, making more money, or quitting a habit – smoking, drinking, gambling. Instead of making a perfunctory resolution, let me offer you a few well thought out resolutions I am planning to keep, Lord willing, this year.

My New Year’s Resolutions

(1) Read the Bible – I have always wanted to finish one of those read the Bible through in a year plans, but I always lose steam. It’s not that I haven’t read the entire Bible, I have. It’s not that I don’t study the Bible in-depth, I do. I just haven’t ever finished a plan. The beginning of the year is great. All the boxes are checked, and I even make it through Leviticus and Numbers, but somewhere after that I fade off. This year is going to be different.

I recently subscribed to Table Talk Magazine, and I plan to do their daily devotionals each day, along with their read the Bible through in a year plan. If you are in the market for a solid devotional magazine, one that cuts out all the fluff, will help you deepen your understanding of God’s Word, and set you on a path to read the Bible in a year, I would recommend Table Talk.

(2) Read Calvin’s Institutes – Calvin’s Institutes represent a lifetime of thought and study. Even though they were written in the 1500’s, they are readable and useful for modern man. In order to accomplish my goal, I am participating in a Calvin’s Institutes Reading Group. A group you can participate in as well. If you have always wanted to read the Institutes, but like me, they have been sitting on your shelf for some time, join the group. We are planning on reading The Institutes in a year and discussing them along the way.

(3) Love My Wife Better – My wife is amazing! She is smart, intelligent, and funny. She loves God and our family. Even though I have great wife, I have to confess I don’t love her as well as I should. This year, I am repenting and loving my wife better. I am armed with my Bible, Tim Keller’s recent book The Meaning of Marriage, Justin Buzzard’s Date Your Wife, and Joel Beeke’s Friends and Lovers. Other than the Holy Spirit convicting me and God’s Word teaching me, I am hoping to learn much from these godly men about loving my wife better.

Final Thoughts

Those are my resolutions for this year. I share those with you in order to encourage you to think through your resolutions, and so you can pray for me and hold me accountable as the year goes on. Your prayers and a timely comment or two throughout the year asking how things are going might just be the encouragement I need to keep at it.

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