New Beginnings

I was thinking today about the coming new year, and the resolutions that will be made. Most people want to set a goal for some kind of fitness program. Many people set weight loss goals. I was pondering about this phenomenon, and how we all seem to look at the new year as a new start. Why is it that we feel that January 1st is the time to change? Couldn't we just as easily pick any month of the year and set new goals? Something about the new year makes us review our life and want to make changes.

I think this is the exact kind of process that my mind goes through each week when taking the sacrament. Every Sunday I think about things in my life that I need to change. I think about goals that I need to work on, and things that I would like to eliminate from or add to my life. Each week as I take the sacrament, I think about the sacrifice the Savior made for me so that I can overcome sin and weaknesses of character. Each week I make resolutions. Taking the sacrament not only helps me to think about what I need to change, but it reminds me of the sacrifice the Savior made for me. The greatest way to honor the Savior's sacrifice is to take advantage of it by repenting and making my life more aligned with His.

As we make our new year resolutions, and think about what we would like to change in our lives, let us remember the atonement of our Savior that made true change possible. Let us vow to remember him by observing the Sabbath. Let us rid our lives of those things that draw us away from Him, and fill our lives with those things that make us more Christlike.