2021 is here. Another year in a string of years that, when bookended together, represent your life, and mine. Just two days ago a friend of mine passed away. Unexpectedly. The final bookend to his life was 2020. I was profoundly saddened for him and his family. 

But if you’re reading this, you made it through 2020, and have once again begun what you’ve done for a number of decades now. Another year. If your life were a song, 2021 could be just another verse in that song. 

But, should it be?  Should your life be characterized year after year with sameness?  Should the tune others have come to recognize when they encounter you or me, continue to be the one we play as each new year creeps closer to our final one?  

Resolutions are something many of us make when a new year rolls around. I suppose the reason we make them is because we want the new year to be different than the prior one.  We make them because we think back over the verse of last year’s song and we recognize things we don’t like, or we don’t see things we wish had been there.  And so, we rise up, for a day or two, with a feeble attempt to change the song, not merely add another verse to the same old tune.

As I considered these thoughts, and the many years I have struggled with simply repeating the same old song, decade after decade, I went to the actual definition of resolution.  Of course the conventional definition of the word in the context of a new year is generally “the act of determining; firmness or resolve.”  But there was another use of the word resolution that, in the context of our theme of a song, seemed to be right on point.  

Resolution in a musical context means, “the progression of a chord from dissonance to consonance.”  With music, when you have dissonance you have “a mingling of sounds that strike the ear harshly; a clashing or unresolved music chord.”  But dissonance also means, “inconsistency between the beliefs one holds or between one’s actions and beliefs.”  

The second word in the definition of a musical resolution though is “consonance” which simply means “harmony or agreement among components.”  In music, “notes that sound good together when played at the same time are called consonant; one can listen to them for a long time without a feeling that the music needs to change.”

So a musical resolution is transitioning from sounds that are harsh and clash and suggest a need for change, to notes that are pleasant, stable and do not require change.”

What an interesting analogy of what so many of us do each new year.  We look back at our lives in the previous year(s) and we see a life of dissonance.  We recognize that many of the things we profess to believe, or we know to be true, are not evident in our lives.  We see inconsistency in our example.  And that inconsistency often strikes others harshly, even those we love.

So we “resolve” to move away from personal dissonance towards consonance.  We thus seek a life in the new year where our lives are in harmony with those deep values and beliefs we say we hold to.  Whether it’s something as simple as eating what we know to be healthy, to reconciling our outward actions with what we know to be true inwardly, we all seek to harmonize our lives.  

But if your past decades will predict your future course, then it’s safe to say that whatever you resolve today, will soon be another dissonant conclusion.  Even though the definition of “resolution” includes the word “firmness,” it’s likely that your life and mine will lack resolve in 2021.

So why is this?  Fundamentally, because we are frail.  I know I am.  Over and over and over I say I will do “x” and then I don’t.  At least not permanently.  

The Apostle Paul, perhaps one of the most resolute Christians ever, had this to say about this struggle:

“And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway.” Romans 7:18-19

In a sense, Paul was acknowledging the dissonance that existed in his own life.  He too struggled with doing (actions) versing knowing, or his beliefs.  But…

Yes, thankfully there is the word “but” to offer us Hope.  Note what Paul said just a few verses later:

“I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.” Romans 7:21-25 

I too struggle with the very things Paul was talking about.  It can be something as simple as eating healthy.  Or it can be something as serious as aligning my daily walk for Jesus, with what God’s Word says it should be.

But the greatest secret I have ever found to instilling “firmness and resolve” into my resolutions has been what Paul disclosed above.  If I want to be “free” from the song of prior years, if I want to move from dissonance to consonance, and if I want my life to reflect a new song, “the answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord.”  

It’s oh so simple, and oh so hard.  My life’s ruts, the harsh, dissonant chords I’ve gotten used to playing, are such a part of my life that it’s impossible for me to permanently change them.  But there is Jesus.  And He can literally transform your life and mine from one that is harsh, unresolved, and clashing, to one that is pleasant, appealing, and others desire to listen to.  And it’s not you or me.  But Him.  If I ever forget this, my life will once again be dissonant.

So as you consider your resolutions for 2021, why not begin with the one that is the foundation for every other one.  Resolve to pursue a new song.  Let Jesus be the conductor of your life.  Let Him write the music.  And let Him take total control of your life.  

You might ask, “how do I do that?”  1 John 2:6 tells us how:

“Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.” 

“Live your life as Jesus did.”  That’s the secret.  And finding out how to do that requires, or I should say, it “demands” that I find out just how Jesus lived by daily investing time in God’s Word, since we are told that Jesus is the very “Word of God.”  So to know Jesus means to know the Bible.  That is the foundation.

If you will resolve to reading the Bible in 2021, then your life this year will take on a new song.  The dissonance will become consonance.  And regardless of what goes on in the world this year, it will be the absolute best year of your life, as 2020 was mine.  

Below are some thoughts on how you can make the Bible the foundation of your life, which will in turn strengthen you in every other resolution you might make:

🔹Practical Reading Suggestions

• Download the YouVersion Bible App on your phone.  (With the Brown Holy Bible icon).
  
• Go to “Plans” and click on “Find Plans”
  
• Go to “Through the Bible”
  
• Click on “Whole”
  
• Find “Read Through the Bible” Plan (It’s a one year plan)
  
• Click “Start Plan”
  
• My favorite version is the New Living Translation (NLT).  Not only is it in modern vocabulary, but it has a great Audio option.
  
• I both read (with eyes) and listen (with my ears) via the Bible App.  Even when I’m reading with my eyes, I have the audio playing, so I can see and hear simultaneously.  It helps me to better understand and retain what I’m reading. 
  
• Regarding the “Audio” option, it’s pretty much all I listen to anymore when I’m driving, walking/exercising, etc. It connects well with any Bluetooth device.  Also, the NLT audio is by far the most pleasant to listen to, in my opinion.  It also includes dramatization where various voices are used to “act out” the stories in the Gospels and Acts.
  
• I recommend you Register with “You Version” so you can track your Bible reading, interact with friends and so much more.  If you do, please send me a friend request so we can encourage each other via the app.
  
• If you start on this journey, and have any questions whatsoever, please reach out to me. There’s nothing more important to me than encouraging others to read the Bible. So if I can help in any way, including questions or problems with the Bible app, please let me know. 
  
• There is one other Audio Bible that actually has become my favorite and it’s the NIV Audio Bible Dramatized.  If you’re interested in this one, it can be purchased online or listened to for free here:  https://classic.biblegateway.com/audio/dramatized/niv/Gen.1
  

So I pray that these meager thoughts will in some way, encourage, inspire, or motivate you to pick up God’s Word and begin afresh in 2021. Let this particular resolution be the one that enables you to succeed beyond anything your heart can imagine.

Begin a new song… by reading God’s Word, everyday, for the rest of your life!

“When I discovered your words, I devoured them. They are my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, O LORD God of Heaven’s Armies.”  Jeremiah 15:16