Resolutions, determinations and dedications have been made in                                      recent days to change                                 old habits, sleep more,                         increase daily exercise,                              read more books, do                                  better in school, get                                   out of debt, quit                                      drinking the devil’s                                     booze, overcome a                                     drug problem, quit                                   smoking and chewing                                   tobacco, start going to                           church and number one                                on the list of New                                     Year’s resolutions is to                                lose weight.  You can                                add hundreds more.

You can make them                                   and break them however and whenever you choose.  A determined resolution can be made on day one, broken on day two and renegotiated on day three.  They can go in one year and out the other.  A new resolution can be made any day of the year and started on the path of being successfully carried out.

One thing we can accurately predict is that more than 50 per cent of those who make resolutions will not succeed in keeping them.  They must be carried out each day until a negative old habit has been eradicated and replaced by a positive new habit.

One of the great newspaper editors of the nation, Tom Blount, of the High Point Enterprise, High Point, North Carolina, has entertained, captivated, baffled and held spellbound diverse audiences of business, professional and church leaders for years with his annual predictions.  He is good at it.

My friend, Joe Harrington, traveled across the nation speaking to thousands of young people in high schools, youth camps and conventions.  He would write down his predictions of what would happen in the school, town, state, nation and the world in the six months prior to his arrival.  They would be mailed to the person who would preside over his appearance.  His predictions would be opened and read to the audience as part of his introduction.  He was almost always 90-100 percent correct.

A Florida mathematician e-mailed to me, in early December, 2007, a list of 10 predictions for 2008.  Sorry, the author’s name was not given.  The idea is interesting and here they are.

1.       The Bible will still have all the answers.

2.       Prayer will still work.

3.       The Holy Spirit will still move.

4.       God will still inhabit the praises of His people.

5.       There will still be God-anointed preaching.

6.       There will still be singing of praise to God.

7.       God will still pour out blessings upon His people.

8.       There will still be room at the Cross.

9.       Jesus will still love you.

10.          Jesus will still save the lost.

When I first read that list I was tempted to  reword it and add my thoughts, but I decided to let it challenge your thinking processes in whatever way and in whatever direction they might go.  Like me, you may also want to make your own list of predictions.  If, in this list there is anything you have a question about, be sure to ask someone who understands and knows the correct answer.

Another paragraph read: “God whispers in your soul and speaks to your mind.  Sometimes when you don’t have time to listen, He has to throw a brick at you.  It’s your choice: Listen to the whisper, or wait for the brick.”

I read this appropriate verse in the Bible for a New Year.  “But one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14).

Enjoy making your own predictions about the rest of 2008.  Make them for your personal life, politics, sports teams, the economy and even the weather.  Think again about the things you can count on.  Live with eternity in view and learn to see the invisible.

Publisher's Note: Bill Ellis, Award Winning Syndicated Columnist, P.O. Box 345, Scott Depot, WV 25560.  Phone:304-757-6089
www.BillEllis.Net.