Making New Year's Resolutions

Two phrases stand out in the book of Haggai. The first calls the people of Israel to honest self-examination. The temple had remained unbuilt for sixteen years, and their familiar excuse—“The time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the Lord”—was wearing thin. “Consider your ways,” Haggai declares. The judgment of God surrounded them, if only they were willing to see it.

The second phrase—“Consider from this day onward”—invites them to move from examination, to repentance, to intentional change. Following this progression, Haggai offers enduring wisdom for the way we think about New Year’s resolutions.

1. Let Your Resolutions Be Biblically Informed

Make resolutions that move you toward greater obedience. God’s Word has a way of exposing the places where we fall short and clarifying the path forward. Listen carefully to what it says, even when it confronts you.

2. Make Repentance the First Step Toward New Obedience

Repentance allows the past to truly become the past. But repentance is not the final step. Do not waste time wallowing in remorse or shame. Turn instead in a new direction. Repentance clears the ground so that obedience can grow.

3. Anchor Your Resolutions in the Promises of God

What has God promised? Forgiveness. Peace. Security. Hope. In the New Testament, we are also given the promise of the Holy Spirit—His active presence and power enabling new direction, new strength, and lasting change. “Consider from this day onward.”

After the preaching of Haggai, the temple was rebuilt in five years. God’s Word, received with repentance and obedience, brought renewal where there had been long delay.

So consider your ways. And then, consider from this day onward.

 

The Intervention of the Word of God

 

The word of Haggai stands at the center of the story of the second temple. The entrance of the prophetic word is the pivot point of the narrative. Everything changes at that moment. The people respond in obedience and resume the work of rebuilding. God’s message, delivered through His prophet, becomes both correction and encouragement, moving the hearts of the people from repentance to obedience and from discouragement to renewed vision.

Haggai’s message unfolds in two distinct phases. First comes the command: “Consider your ways.” It is an invitation to moral reflection—to examine their circumstances and honestly reckon with the consequences of their disobedience. Then comes a second pair of calls to consider: “Consider from this day onward.” What grace and mercy are contained in those words. The message moves from judgment to hope, from rebuke to promise.

God’s encouragement takes concrete form.

“Fear not.”
Fear had been the original distraction that brought the work on the temple to a halt. Now God redirects their focus. When He is restored to the center of their lives and worship, fear no longer governs their decisions.

“In this place I will give peace.”
The Jews had been threatened with conflict over the rebuilding of the temple by the people of the land. God responds not with escalation, but with assurance. He promises peace in the very place of tension. The sovereign care of God transforms their outlook.

“From this day onward I will bless you.”
No more wages disappearing like money in a bag with holes. No more clothing that fails to warm. Blessing replaces barrenness. Restored fellowship with God brings not only security and peace, but abundance. What they reap will now far exceed what they sow.

The Word of God—and our response to it—is always the turning point. Repentance is never the end; it is the beginning. It opens the way to renewed hope, renewed vision, and renewed promise.

“Consider from this day onward.”