Ecclesiastes 3:1-13 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to throw away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace. What gains have the workers from their toil? I have seen the business that God has given to everyone to be busy with. He has made everything suitable for its time; moreover He has put a sense of past and future into their minds, yet they cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. I know that there is nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live; moreover, it is God's gift that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in all their toil. I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere Him. Whatever is has already been, and what will be has been before; and God will call the past to account.

Genesis 1:26-28 Then God said, "Let us make man in Our image, in Our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."

 

If your Christmas celebration was half as good as ours you had a fantastic time! All of our children except one daughter-in-law were home, and all six grandchildren were home! It was wonderful, and we are very thankful!

But I noticed something… no matter how hard you try, there will be moments when little kids will cry! Our three youngest grandchildren are 5 months, 18 months and 2 ½ years old. At that age it is hard to express their feelings, so they cry frequently. It is a very effective means of self-expression!

 

However, we who are older should probably not be so self-focused and certainly should be able to express ourselves more effectively. Crying and complaining all of the time really gets on other people’s nerves! Through the years I have worked around many people like that!

 

This brings me to the main point of this message. New Year’s Resolutions! We all know that we have areas in which we should improve, so we make the resolutions.

 

The problem is keeping the silly things. Why is this so hard!

 

First, let’s look at our scripture. For years it was generally thought that Solomon wrote the book, however, some of the verses suggest that the author was a monarch that ruled later and simply wrote from Solomon’s perspective, using some of Solomon’s writings.

 

But don’t let that concern you… the Holy Spirit is the ultimate author of the Holy Scriptures.

 

The theme of the book is found in Ecclesiastes 1:2, “"Meaningless! Meaningless!" says the Teacher. "Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless."

 

We have to be careful how we take this scripture. The Holy Spirit is not saying that life is meaningless… He is allowing the writer to express the feelings that many people have! To a self-centered person, life is meaningless, because “things” only give a temporary satisfaction. Many very successful people by the world’s standards have committed suicide or done stupid things because they felt that life was meaningless!

 

If you want life to be a major disappointment, expect unchanging happiness in a changing world! Some days, no matter what we do, will be a disappointment!

 

God's plan for our lives is wise, just, and good. Unfortunately, God does not always get His will done on a day-by-day basis. Sorrow and pain fill the world, providing us an opportunity to be God’s hand extended.  None of us were sent into the world to be idle.

 

The answer to making life meaningful:

 

Ecclesiastes 12:13, 14.  "Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man. God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil."

 

Matthew Henry explains the problem very well. He writes, “Every thing is as God made it; not as it appears to us. The problem is that we usually do not see things from God’s perspective. We have the world so much in our hearts, are so taken up with thoughts and cares of worldly things, that we have neither time nor spirit to see God's hand in them.

 

“The world has not only gained possession of our heart, it has formed thoughts against the beauty of God's works. We mistake if we think we were born for ourselves; no, it is our business to do good in this life, which is short and uncertain; we have but little time to be doing good, therefore we should redeem the time.”

 

A major step toward understanding God is to have faith that “all things work together for good to them that love Him.”

Every change we face, every temptation we face is common to everyone.

 

So, we make a New Year’s Resolution to change ourselves! The next question is, “How are we going to keep the resolution!”

 

A survey of a random group of 104 adults over 18 years of age was conducted. The surveyors determined that only 9% of Americans are serious about achieving their goals. 51% don’t have New Year’s Resolutions and of those that do, 79% don’t have a plan to achieve them.

 

Philadelphia, PA (PRWEB) December 1, 2004 -- A survey conducted by the Gail Kasper Consulting Group, a leading speaking and coaching company, found that Americans aren’t taking their futures very seriously. Although 51% of those surveyed do not have New Year’s resolutions, 99% of respondents felt they were capable of accomplishing more in their lives. So the question remains: why aren’t we doing something about it? They were also asked to identify the biggest issue that prevents them from achieving their New Years Resolutions or goals.

 

The top 3 reasons identified were as follows:

Procrastinating 33%
Lack of discipline 24%
No game plan 19%

 

10% felt the biggest issue that prevented them from achieving their New Year’s resolutions or goals was “doing it alone.”

 

The survey participants were also asked if they felt they needed to improve their lives in specific areas such as:

Personal confidence

Family relationships

Involvement in clubs/organizations

Developing supportive friendships

Physical appearance (excluding weight)

Weight

Financial stability

Health/working out

Career

Education

 

99% of respondents felt they needed to improve in more than one area; over 90% felt they needed to improve in 5 or more areas. The area that required the greatest improvement was developing financial stability, followed by health/working out, and losing weight.

 

Thus 99% feel they need to improve their lives, but only 9% are actively doing something about it.

 

We do want more and we all know we can do more with our lives, but 91% of us aren’t doing anything about it.

 

Do you want to do something about it?

 

“Planning for the future would bring long term positive results and achievement,” continues Kasper. “Initially, you may feel that you are sacrificing because you are not out on a Saturday spending your paycheck and you are now at home learning a new software program, but only ‘your choices’ have changed. You will find immediate gratification because you are developing you.”

 

Gail Kasper is the author of the recently released time management and life strategy audio program, Make a Decision to Win.  She suggests these 6 simple steps to getting on track and living your New Year’s resolutions and goals.

1. A support system is essential.

As children: parents

As adults: the boss

As mature: ourselves

 

Perhaps it’s time to have a “goal planning” party. One brainstorming session where others share their ideas and experiences can propel you to the next level of achievement.

2. Schedule a meeting with yourself. That’s right, schedule a 30 minute meeting… with you! Ask yourself this question: where do I want to be 5 years from now? And write down the response. This will give you a clear direction for where you want to go.

3. Have a Daily Planning System. Get your electronic organizer, daily planner or other method of choice and write down your goals. Writing them down will make it “important” and give seriousness to the task. It will bring your goals to life.

4. Identify the specific date and time to start tasks. Next to those goals, write down the specific tasks you must do to complete those goals. These specific tasks are placed in your daily planning system.

5. Design your value system. If you are a caring, hard working, honest with yourself, loyal individual - these values will define the process for how you will move forward with your goals. And these values will define the choices you make with your life.

6. Celebrate every accomplishment. We are a negative society. We see what we haven’t accomplished, rather than the steps that we have taken. Any effort or energy you give to what you haven’t accomplished will only slow you down. Celebrate every accomplishment, keep the momentum, and look toward tomorrow.

 

Finally, to be successful, determine what you want to be, not what you want to give up. This puts everything in a positive perspective. We have a friend that plans to be rich someday. When I asked her how she planned to do this she said, “Control all of my expenses now.” When asked for an explanation she said, “There are some improvements I want to make on my house, but I am not going to do that now… I just consider the problems things that give my house character.”

 

Another friend was encouraged to purchase an item because it “only costs a few dollars.” He responded, “I know, but all those ‘few dollars’ can add up to a lot of money!”

 

I asked Herman Meinders the secret to wealth… he said, “Control your pennies and work hard.” One of Herman’s executives said, “I always wanted to take a nap after lunch but Herman never would let me.” “Why was that?” I asked.

Herman responded, “I couldn’t take one, so why should he?” (Herman owned the company!)

 

Things that will keep us from accomplishing our goals:

 

1.     It has to be your goal for yourself.

2.     Failure to write out and routinely review goals

3.     Trying to “eat the elephant in one bite.”

4.     We really do not want to succeed.

5.     No accountability; just you and your goals won’t work!

6.     Giving up too easy… change requires time to learn! You didn’t give up walking because you fell the first day!

 

As our scripture says, “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to throw away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.”

 

How do we know? The same way the writers of the scripture knew what to write!  They listened to the Holy Spirit! Since our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, we know that God’s Spirit is not very far away!