I used to say that my new year’s resolution is to make no resolutions, and I always keep it. I don’t use this joke anymore, because it occurred to me that to say that I resolve to make no resolutions is a logical impossibility. I can’t bring myself to ignore that.

I’ve never been much for letting the calendar control my life, so I was delighted to find justification for my annual new year’s negation. It turns out New Year’s resolutions are derived from ancient Babylonian and roman customs. The tradition is firmly rooted in pagan practice. Unlike celebrations such as Christmas and Easter, which have adopted some questionable practices but owe their existence to Christianity, the New Year celebration has no Christian foundation. Add to that the well-known inaccuracy of historical methods of marking time, and you can see that there is no reason to treat New Year’s Day differently than any other day.

There is nothing wrong with New Year celebrations or resolutions. Like most things not specifically addressed by God’s word, they are a matter of personal conscience. God is concerned with what is in your heart. As for my wife and me, we plan to sleep in the new year.

Looking through research on New Year’s resolutions, the thing that strikes me most is that they are almost entirely self-focused. Fitness and finance top the list. While self-improvement is certainly a worthy goal, I wonder what would happen if our resolutions became more outwardly focused. What might the resolutions of a dedicated Christ follower look like? Jesus being our model, we’re all going to fall short, but that doesn’t mean we stop trying.

Are you making resolutions for 2024? If it’s worth doing, don’t wait for the new year. Start today!