A common practice that coincides with the start of a new year is the making of new year’s resolutions. A New Year’s resolution is a personal declaration of what one intends to do at the start of a new year in order to positively change his or her life. Setting such resolutions can be beneficial because they provide a beneficial goal for you to pursue in the upcoming year. The only problem is that most resolutions are abandoned by the end of February.
Today, you are encouraged to utilize the worksheet in the bulletin to craft some spiritual resolutions for 2019, and, since we have a tendency to abandon most resolutions rather quickly, we will examine the spiritual revival that took place during the reign of Asa in order to discover four important steps for initiating long-lasting spiritual change.
The Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded, 2 and he went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: The Lord is with you while you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you. 3 For a long time Israel was without the true God, and without a teaching priest and without law, 4 but when in their distress they turned to the Lord, the God of Israel, and sought him, he was found by them. 5 In those times there was no peace to him who went out or to him who came in, for great disturbances afflicted all the inhabitants of the lands. 6 They were broken in pieces. Nation was crushed by nation and city by city, for God troubled them with every sort of distress. 7 But you, take courage! Do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded.”
2 Chronicles 15:1-7