Only thirteen more hours left in this year. Then the clock will strike midnight, the ball will drop, and 2012 will be gone from us forever. We'll welcome 2013 with open arms, but memories of 2012 will be with us forever. What a year we've had...
It was a year of sorrow and joy, blessing and tragedy. We watched the London Olympics and celebrated the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, we watched the second deadliest American mass shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, we watched Barack Obama be elected to serve a second term as U.S. president, we watched political unrest heating up in the east, we watched the NHL strike, we watched (some of us more closely than others) Hurricane Sandy hit New York, we watched the Detroit Tigers win the World Series, we watched and prayed for 200,000,000 Christians worldwide who were persecuted for their faith, we watched Chick-fil-A stand up for the truth, we watched storms, we watched suffering, we watched sitcoms, we watched happiness and sadness. Maybe this was the worst year of your life. But maybe it was the best. Maybe you struggled with major challenges and your year was marked by suffering. Yet maybe this year was a year overwhelmed with blessing and comfort for you.
For me it was a year of genuine blessing. I was on TV, I started high school, I went on a big vacation, I got a camera, I read dozens of books, I traveled to schools all over our city performing, I watched our church grow in unity, I got published in a magazine, I watched my grandfather and uncle get married, I wrote a novel with a friend, I read through the Bible again, I wrote (including this one) 169 blog posts, I saw a Broadway show, I got stranded in New York City and ...well, a dozen other things!
But as this year comes to a close and we look back at it, let's choose to ask some questions, even some that are difficult.
How did I glorify God this year?
Was I faithful in my circumstances?
Did I choose joy?
How many people did I share the gospel with?
Did I pray often?
Was I relying on the Word of God?
I know what my answer is to most of these questions, and it falls short of what it should be. So as this new year dawns upon us, let's look at these questions as resolutions for 2013. Let's resolve together to glorify God this year, remain faithful through Him in our circumstances, choose joy, share the gospel with those we meet, pray often and rely on the Word of God. For then, we'll truly have a happy new year.