Happy 2025, friends!
Yeah, I know we’re 4 days in, but I’m celebrating today by ending my 2 week year-end writing sabbatical and getting into new-year rhythm.
Here’s what I know about 2025:
Not much!
I know there will be victories and defeats, births and deaths, gains and losses, blessings and tragedies, beginnings and endings, successes and failures … you get the picture.
We’ve all got objectives on our calendars and in our minds.
And many of us are trying to put plans and strategies in place to achieve those objectives—while realizing that much is beyond our control.
I began reading Proverbs on January 1 and arrived this morning at Proverbs 4.
When I reached verse 23, it occurred to me that there are some important and applicable instructions as we enter a new year.
“Above all else, guard your heart,for everything you do flows from it.”
Two things I noticed in this verse:
“Above all else …”
This is the starting place—the central realignment strategy and keystone habit that affects everything else.
“Guard your heart …”
It’s important for us to remember that, in the ancient world, the heart is NOT primarily about emotions and affections; it is about motivations and decisions.
Guarding our hearts means that we check our motivations and make decisions based on our core values and identity rather than the whims of our emotions.
The writer goes on:
“Keep your mouth free of perversity;keep corrupt talk far from your lips” (v. 24).
Words matter. Words have power. Will we use them to build or destroy this year? Will we speak from a guarded heart? Will we self-edit before speaking (or posting)—considering the consequences of our words? Will we seek information and understanding before weighing in with our proclamations?
“Let your eyes look straight ahead;fix your gaze directly before you” (v. 25).
Where will our focus be this year?
Here’s something I know for sure: There’s a reason windshields are big and rear view mirrors are small. Driving focused on one is much safer (for us and those around us) than driving focused on the other.
We don’t have the option of returning to the past or bringing the past into the present. Time moves in one direction.
We have zero control over the times. We have complete control over what we focus on.
Will we step into the current season with a guarded heart and measured words—focusing on what’s ahead rather than trying to recapture what’s behind?
“Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways” (v. 26).
With guarded hearts, measured words, and forward focus, now we’re ready to consider what we’ll DO—our ways and habits.
I hope you’re seeing that there is a big picture here. Ways and habits are more than reactions in the moment.
They are components of the life that we have chosen to live—based on our understanding of who we are and the persons we are becoming.
And for people of faith there is a sense of who we are called to be.
As a follower of Jesus, my objective is to align myself—my heart, words, focus, and habits—with the way of Jesus as described in the Gospels.
And that means that the way of Jesus is the lens through which I read the scriptures and respond to the circumstances around me.
That’s my invitation to you as we embark on 2025 together.
Be amazing today, my friend.
(And then repeat it tomorrow)
