Inspirational
New New Year’s Resolutions
“New Year’s resolutions are for the young,” Chita laughed when asked by her seven-year-old grandson where she kept her written list.
“Why don’t you make them anymore?” he wondered.
“Go ahead, make a list,” she replied, remembering what her list was like many years ago.
“Look,” she added, showing her shriveled, arthritic hands. “These can only flip pages of books, but can no longer write a list.”
In truth, Chita had made a new resolution in her mind. It was something her grandson could not yet understand. It was drawn from one of her Bible readings (Romans 14:1-13 NLT) during the Christmas season.
She likened it to a special present wrapped in grace because it talked to her in a personal way.
The verses made her examine herself. Now advancing in years, she was becoming more and more judgmental, thinking that with her vast experience and intimacy with the Bible, she knew more than any believer younger than her—and expected them to follow her stringent rules.
Verse 13 particularly affected her, almost rebuking her, “So let’s stop condemning each other. Decide instead to live in such a way that you will not cause another believer to stumble and fall.”
Like the Romans in Jesus’ time, Chita realized that she had been too insistent for others to adhere to certain behaviors, not really explicitly written in the Bible.
Like Chita, we, who no longer write our list of New Year’s resolutions, can perhaps include this verse in our mind’s list. It is to encourage fellow believers to walk with God, instead of setting up roadblocks that can cause them to stumble and fall.
