A PLAN FOR THE NEW YEAR

Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.     Proverbs 16:3 NIV

Back before we did everything on a computer, tablet or phone, I would buy a paper day planner at the store when I first saw them alongside the pretty new year calendars.  It was always nice to open the new planner with all its clean and empty pages, as the old planner had become worn and full of notations by December. I would then enter events like birthdays, hockey games, concerts, school vacations, and our family vacation in the new planner and open it on the desk in our home office, usually below the old planner until January 1 arrived.

Solomon wrote Proverbs to provide guidelines for his subjects. The verse above reminds us that part of planning ahead for 2024 requires us to commit those plans to God. When we do that, we offer everything we do to God and then rely on His grace to see us through the year. Other translations of the text, like the New Living Translation, go so far as to say “your plans will succeed.” when committed to the Lord. 

The Hebrew word for “commit” is “to roll”. That meaning immediately brings bowling to mind. I got an A in bowling in college – where it was a physical education class. Despite that, I was never very good at bowling, mostly scoring in the low 100’s; with a perfect game being 300. However, the act of rolling a heavy ball toward a distant group of pins is a good analogy to committing an action to the Lord. Once the ball leaves my hand, it often moves to the left or right, not where I had intended it to go between the one and three pins. This often is caused by twisting my hand when releasing the ball. Sometimes, the ball even goes straight into the gutter. So, too, will our plans be guided by God – perhaps a strike, maybe a split or gutter ball. As we get better in giving our plans to God, like a bowler who practices the game several times a week, our chances of getting a strike on a roll of the bowling ball increases.

Prayer: Lord, I have great plans for 2024 and want to commit them to You. Help me to remember that I can depend on You. Enable me to seek what You want me to do this year to further the work of Your Kingdom on Earth. Amen.

  Carol Rice