Spiritual Resolutions for a New Year James 4:13-17 1. When Jonathan Edwards was just a young man, he made five resolutions and lived by them faithfully: Resolved: to live with all my might while I do live. Resolved: never to lose a moment of time, but to improve it in the most profitable way I can. Resolved: never to do anything which I should despise or think meanly of in another. Resolved: never to do anything out of revenge. Resolved: never to do anything which I should be afraid to do if it were the last hour of my life. 2. I would suggest to you that the resolutions of Jonathan Edwards would be good resolutions for every one of us, especially as we close out one year and begin a new year. 3. All of us have at one time or another has made new year resolutions. Someone has said, ''the weakness of most new year's resolutions is that they simply go in one year and out the other.'' 4. Another has said, ''resolutions are like babies crying in church. They must be carried out to be good.'' 5. As we look at our text we see that James is talking about the future. In verse 13 he refers to the plans certain ones had for the year before them. We read: ''go to now, ye that say, to day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:'' 6. He speaks to us about the attitudes we should have about the days that are before us. 7. James tells us that when we consider the year that is before us that there is much about the future that is uncertain. He says to us in verse 14, ''whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow.'' 8. He reminds us that we don't even know what tomorrow holds, much less a year. 9. Let me say that even though we may not know what we face in the future, we should know how to face the future. 10. One of the ways to face the new year is to settle certain things in our heart and life. There are certain spiritual resolutions we should make about how we are going to approach and face the new year. 11. I want us to glean from what James said certain spiritual

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