Repentance. Renewal. Rebirth. Revival. These are great Bible ideas, showing us that God loves new beginnings.

He designed our world that way. The earth’s pirouette gives us a daily sunrise. “His mercies begin afresh each morning” (Lam. 3:23, NLT).

God’s Sabbath offers a weekly reboot. The moon’s silent rotation through the night sky provides 12 fresh pages on our monthly calendar. We also experience seasonal changes, and the earth’s trek around the sun gives us the New Year.

It’s sensible to reevaluate life at the turning of the year. I have a double whammy because my birthday falls on Jan. 3, and this year it was my big 75. That’s a recipe for serious contemplation.

I don’t want to be what Zig Ziglar called “a wandering generality.” Every life, like an arrow, has a point. We can only aim at one target, so choose carefully – and don’t aim too low. C.S. Lewis warned, “Aim at Heaven and you will get Earth thrown in; aim at Earth and you will get neither.”

A devoted life is a simplified life – you have just one Person to please. As Paul put it, “Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31).

To help us apply the truism, “The most important thing is to make sure that the most important thing is always the most important thing,” there is something we must realize.

Many people make resolutions for the coming year, but somehow the changes they hope for never arrive. Why? Here’s one suggestion.

After their long trek through the wilderness, the children of Israel entered the Promised Land. Not long afterward, the Lord called for a meeting.

The conference center was the Valley of Shechem, in the middle of the country. Bordering the valley on the southwest and northeast are two mountains: Gerizim and Ebal.

Ebal is bald – a rocky outcrop unblessed with grass or trees. Gerizim is lush, watered by its own substantial spring.

Half of Israel’s tribes ascended the facing slopes of each mountain. The Levites, armed with God’s law, stood in the valley. One by one, they read the curses for disobedience. In response, the tribes on Ebal thundered, “Amen,” meaning, “That’s the way it should be.” Break God’s law and suffer the consequences.

They did the same with obedience and its corresponding blessings, except the “amens” came from Gerizim.

Do you see the principle? Our lives are shaped by our choices. Choices have consequences, slowly but surely forming our character. And the best choices are always grounded in God’s Word.

But there are two mountains, not just one. If we want to do more in the coming year – more hospitality, more Bible study, more visits with widows and shut-ins, more evangelism, more good works in the community – we must also decide what we will do less.
No one can make time; you have to take time from something else. Less sleep? Less leisure? Less TV or internet?

Do you long for personal revival? Revival is simply a fresh beginning of obedience to God. Here’s a good motto for 2026: “Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize of God’s heavenly calling in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:13-14, BSB).

Jabe Nicholson of Starkville visits four prisons each week with Heaven’s life-changing message. Write to [email protected] or visit www.uplook.tv.

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