It's not how you start it's how you finish

Believe it or not, we are halfway through 2018!  The midway point of the year is a great time to glance back and look forward.  Many people make commitments for the New Year.  We set personal, professional, family, and spiritual goals.  We say we are going to eat less and exercise more.  We will worry less and pray more, work less and be at home more, watch less television and read the Bible more. 

Unfortunately, by this point in the year, many of us have fizzled out on our commitments.  We had great intentions, but it is very likely that we did not have a plan to go with those intentions.  When there is no action plan there are false starts.  We go along well for a little while, and then life happens and we go back to our comfortable and familiar habits, patterns, and routines.  The good news is that you don’t have to wait until 2019 to try again. 

Lamentations 3:22-23 states, “Because of the LORD’s faithful love we do not perish, for His mercies never end.  They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness!” (CSB).  Each morning God gives us a fresh start.  As you glance back at the first six months of this year, do just that: glance.  Don’t gaze back, glance back.  Don’t live in the past and get stuck there.  Whether you had more successes or more failures so far this year, look forward.  God’s mercies are new every morning!  If you failed everyday of this year, God is giving you a new start this morning.  If you have succeeded everyday this year, it is only by the faithful love and tender mercies of God that you will succeed today. 

• Have a vision.  Know where God wants you to go.  Pray that God will open your eyes to see what He sees and follow where He leads (2 Kings 6:17).
  
• Have a plan.  Vision is not enough.  You must have a plan so that the vision is more than a dream.  What are the steps you are going to take to move from thought to action?
  
• Have a calendar.  If it doesn’t get scheduled, it isn’t going to happen.  Schedule time for daily prayer and Bible reading.  Schedule family time.  Schedule time with friends.  Schedule time for exercise and recharging.  If you can set aside 15 minutes to plan and schedule, you will be surprised how far you can get.
  
• Have discipline.  If you see it, plan it, and schedule it then do it!  There will be things that will try to compete with family time and time with God.  The temptation will be to sacrifice time with God and family/friends for those other activities.  Remember that how we spend our time reflects the priorities of our lives.  Have others hold you accountable for following through on your commitments.  When you fail others, apologize and repent. 

​Make the last half of 2018 the best half!