Failure No More!

By Liz Cowen Furman –

Every year when the New Year rolls around and everyone is talking about New Year’s resolutions, I have felt compelled to join in. Over the years, I’ve had several. One year I was going to get in shape and lose a bunch of baby weight (my kids are all in their teens or 20s now so this was a day or two ago). I started out great; eating less, running or walking more. However, as the weeks went by and melted into months so did my resolve. Failure.

Another year I was going to stop eating sugar (oh yeah, right.) That only lasted until February with the next eat sugar until you drop holiday. Failure.

Yet another New Year found me determined to get organized. I am a piler; it is the plight of being a teacher I think. Do you know what a piler is? A person who has a pile for this project and a pile for that job is a piler. Mine are usually organized; at least I know where everything is. My husband would beg to differ however. Just as all the other resolutions failed so did this one.

After so many failures, in order to avoid being a failure, I quit making resolutions. Then a couple of years ago, our pastor suggested instead of all those other resolutions, as good as they might be, that we focus on our relationship with the Savior. Get a lined journal, he encouraged. Each morning open your Bible and start reading, looking for a nugget for you that day. Start in the Psalms. When you read something that really speaks to you, copy the verse and cite into your journal and write what you are thinking about or write a prayer asking God to help you get it or apply it or whatever fits.

So I did. An amazing thing happened. My quiet time and time spent in the Bible transformed from something I did mostly out of duty to something I look forward to every day. I can’t wait to crack open the Word and dive in every morning. Verses I’ve read a million times have come alive for me on a whole different level. (Proof that the Bible is a living document, like scripture claims). If I have to miss a day or two, (life happens sometimes); I just pick it back up and go forward. No guilt and no trying to make up the lost days, just going forward. It works! Instead of fulfilling a resolution or goal I grew in my relationship with my best friend Jesus. I guess you could say that instead of being a follower of Jesus I became a friend of His. Big difference.

If you are tired of all those failed resolutions like I was, try this one for 2013. See if you are as encouraged as I. Scripture promises that His Word never comes back void. I’m thinking this might be the only New Year’s Resolution I will ever make.