Just imagine. In 2025 you’re going to climb Mount Everest. You’re in top physical, emotional, and psychological condition. You’ve done several successful trips on lower peaks. You’ve built up your skills on rock, snow, and ice. You’ve got strength endurance, high-altitude tolerance, and strong cardiovascular conditioning. But even with all that preparation, would you consider climbing Mount Everest carrying an armchair, a boulder, or anything more than what was absolutely necessary? No! It would slow you down; you’d leave it behind.
I tend not to make New Year resolutions; the Lord wants me to be responsive to him all day, every day. But I have a life milestone coming up in a years’ time, and I’ve been praying about how best to prepare for the changes that will bring. Six months ago the Lord prompted me to starting journalling three lists, discerning:
1. What to continue (keep on doing)
2. What to add (start doing)
3. What to subtract (stop doing)
‘Subtract’ has been the most difficult.
My question is: do I need to drag into 2025 all I am currently carrying? No! In fact Hebrews 12:1-2a encourages us: Such a large crowd of witnesses is all around us! So, we must get rid of everything that slows us down, especially the sin that just won’t let go. And we must be determined to run the race that is ahead of us. We must keep our eyes on Jesus, who leads us and makes our faith complete. (CEV, emphasis mine)
What will slow me down in fulfilling God’s ‘race’ purposes? What should I stop doing (no matter how good it is) to have the capacity to add something even better suited for my next season of life or simply to change to a slower pace for a different stage of my race? What is he encouraging me to continue?
Rather than hitting the ground running on 1 January 2025, join me in pausing over the next few days, praying, and see what adjustments God might have in mind for us: to continue, to add, to subtract so that we carry just what is essential for the next part of our life race, following Jesus.
Sue McQuay
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