New Year Resolutions

It was in 1994 when Take That had a hit with ‘Everything changes but you’ which starts with… 

Girl, come on over here.

Let me hold you for a little while

And remember I'll always love you

Forever, everything changes but you. 

 

At the start of a new year, many resolutions or important decisions are made. For 2023, research from Go.Compare revealed that 48% of the UK’s population made New Year’s resolutions. Within the top 10 were decisions about weight loss, taking care of mental health and improving finances.  

More of us will be making important choices for 2026…allegedly. It is estimated that more than two thirds of UK adults plan to make a New Year’s Resolution for 2026. I am part of the 32% of people who maintain that we have no plans to set such resolutions.  

The raw power of nature

We all get occasions in our lives when we see something that makes us stop and stand in awe.  It may be a glorious sunset, or a waterfall or a flock of starlings making patterns in the sky.  Some have travelled north into Scandinavia to see the northern lights of gone to Canada to stand at the edge of the Niagara Falls. We can describe such experiences as breathtaking, but often such sights simply are inexpressible.

One of these that I experienced was just over twenty years ago when my wife and I were working together at Murree Christian School in Pakistan.  We were house parents to nineteen children, all of whom were aged six to nine years of age. School life followed a fairly regular routine, but, occasionally we would take them out for a special treat. On this occasion it was nearing the end of the school year so we went from Jhika Gali, where the school was sited, to Murree for an “evening out”.  

This year also

 

“This year also” Luke 13.8

The title of this message comes from a parable spoken by the Lord Jesus Christ, recorded in Luke 13.6-9. He had just warned His hearers about the need for them to turn away from their sins, and of the terrible consequence of refusing to do so: they would perish, Luke 13.1-5. 

In the parable, He told of a man who had planted a fig tree in his vineyard, and who for three years had come expecting it to bear fruit, but it had failed to do so. His mind was that his vinedresser should cut the unfruitful tree down there and then, but the employee replied that he should “let it alone this year also”. This would be the last opportunity: if, with this extra time, and the best of care, it bore fruit, that would be a happy outcome; if not, then it should certainly be cut down.

December 31st 2025

All 365 days of 2025 have come and are nearly gone now, writes Bert Cargill of St Monans Gospel Hall. This last day of December will close the year at midnight. Will you stay up to “bring in” the New Year, maybe sing ‘Auld Lang Syne’, be sociable and perhaps noisy? Or will you be quietly thinking back, perhaps on your own, off to bed to get ready for another day, another year?

Either way, I want to wish you good health and happiness in the days ahead. The last day of the year is actually just another day, but we make it special because of how we arrange our calendars wherever we live.