new year's resolutions

The sky was perfect for January this morning: clear, bright, blue and cold. The low sun shone brilliantly and boldly too, giving the air the look of early summer but without the warmth.

I've grown to love this time of year. There's a lot of hope around at the beginning of things - hope and determination. Resolutions are made, the page is wiped clean and the early morning sun seems to wash the weary world in a fresh coat of optimism.

In Christian circles, I've noticed it's become de-rigeur almost, to poo-poo New Year's resolutions and the people who make them. We don't wait for a new year to change things, we proclaim - we're free to live a reborn life, every sweet and glorious day the Lord has given us, right? And anyway, we all know that we never keep our new year's resolutions - what's the point in setting them?

While I've made something of a point of setting my own standards rather too high for myself, I have to say I really like making resolutions at this time of year. I like looking at my life, particularly over years like 2011 when (for me anyway) not a lot happened, and asking myself how I could do the whole thing a bit better, or in a bit more of a happier way. It strikes me that the beginning of January, however you look at it, is a perfect opportunity for doing exactly that.

For example, I know that I'm not too organised. Perhaps this year could be a year to think about how to be better at that. I'm also not great at reading my Bible. What a perfect moment to plan how to read it throughout the year. And the list continues.

I will probably not succeed. There's every chance I'll miss a day, or slip into my old lazy ways - but what I'm saying is that I think the intention is a great thing, a thing that's greater than not doing anything to change; greater than not wanting to change. Middle-aged women who clutch new gym bags nervously this week have great intentions. They want to change. Men who've decided to put their family's needs first and for the first time are going to budget this year - good for them. I think God loves good intentions, especially those made by people who are prepared to look at their situation and realise that things need to change. It takes a kind of soft-heartedness to see it and to do it - and this time of year is brilliant for that.

Which is why my greatest new year's resolution this year is exactly that: to remain soft-hearted and firmly obedient to him. That's got to be a good thing, right?