Happy New Year - Seize the Day!

A new year is upon us and we can’t let this new beginning pass us by. This new year is full of endless possibilities and potential. Your whole life could change this year but it’s up to you to seize the day. It’s up to you to call upon the Living God. It’s up to you to seek the Lord until you find Him.

At the beginning of last year (2002) I felt my relationship with the Lord had hit the dull drums. I needed a fresh touch from God to ignite new life and passion in my pursuit of Him. I felt God leading me to get myself a personal calendar and a new journal. I then set off to discipline myself to spend time with God each day. Now, I have been a Christian for over fifteen years so this was not a new concept. But I had become lax in my desire to spend quality time with the Lord. It had become more of an obligation instead of my hearts desire.

The biggest thing that stood in my way was fear of failure. I had committed to God to spend at least an hour, most every day of the week, in fellowship with Him. This time would consist of recording on my calendar how long my quiet time with the Lord would be and the other responsibilities and events of the day. Then I determined I would read the Bible for awhile followed by a time of prayer and writing in my journal. I had to conquer my doubts that I could follow through on my resolution. The only way I know to do this is by putting one foot in front of the other and going forward!

So I began last January with my new objective: To seek God in a more determined way. And guess what? He was faithful to give me more of His presence, more joy in His word, more excitement, more zeal, and more passion. I discovered that on this journey I would fail many times to keep my promise to seek Him, but instead of getting a defeatist attitude about my failure I continued on in my endeavor. I realized that it was His delight to help me, the only thing I needed to do was seize the day.

I read a quote recently that I feel helps me to illustrate this point.
“There came a time when the risk to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the
risk it took to blossom” Anais Nin

We have the choice to remain just as we are. We can go through 2002 making no spiritual progress. We can give into the fear of failure, being sure that we don’t have it in us to seek the Lord in a more defined manner. We can remain “tight in the bud”, risking nothing. Or we can seize the day!! We can risk it all to bloom!! We can rise up and run toward Jesus, pursuing a holy, dynamic and intimate relationship with Him. We can determine that this is the year that our walk with God will bloom again. With His help we can live each day, bloom each day, and seize the day!