According to the Quicken 2004

New Year's Resolution Survey, the most popular resolutions have to

deal with a change in personal behavior. Asked the subject of their top

three resolutions, people named:

- More time with loved

ones, 70%

- Strengthen personal

finances, 61%

- Lose weight/get in shape,

58%

- Find a better job, 41%

- Give up a bad habit,

33%

- Improve education, 24%

As I was reading the extent

of our resolutions, it occurred to me that every one of the top resolutions

called for changes in behavior.

Take the lose weight topic.

For weight loss to be actionable, you will have to think ahead before

entering a restaurant. You will have to decide ahead of time what you

will be ordering rather than sitting down at the table famished and ordering

the mega-calorie meal. Thinking ahead of time would be a change in behavior.

In order to lose weight and get in shape you must make deliberate and

conscious decisions concerning what you really want. A friend who had

successfully lost 30 pounds said to me, "Nothing tastes as good as

thin feels." Diets don't work. I've tried several. The

only thing that works and keeps on working is a change in eating behavior.

Take the "more time with

loved ones" topic. How? When? Where? They are questions which must

be answered before you will spend more time with your loved ones. Hurried

married partners must cut out blocks of time to be together. This may

include lunch together three times a week, a date out once a week, and

a get-away every three or four months (whatever your budget may allow).

I am totally convinced that most married partners drift away from one

another through the loss of communication and intimacy.

More time with the harried

children? Providing taxi service for your children's soccer practices

and matches does not make for quality time. What about a game night set

aside at which time the family plays several games picked ahead of time.

I wish I had done more games with my family. Games provide camouflaged

opportunities for genuine communication and caring.

To find a better job, you have

to look for a better job and strengthen your skills for a better job.

A pastor friend of mine really had a passion for finances and that was

always a strong factor in his church. He enhanced his skills by attending

countless seminars on investments, portfolio planning, etc. Today he is

the chief executive officer for a well-funded religious investment foundation.

He saw what he wanted. He schooled himself and went after the job.

Now, I have a word for all

the resolutions that you may be ruminating in your cerebral cortex: intentional.

No resolution will be worth much past the Rose Bowl if not accompanied

If you really want to lose weight and enhance your self-esteem, you must

be intentional about your purpose at every meal.

If you want bump up yourself

in the working world, you will have to get that degree, pass that certification

all the while making your designs known in the proper channels. That's

being intentional.

Transfer the same concept to

following Jesus. The Master himself taught that if you genuinely wanted

to be his disciple, you must deny yourself, take up your cross and follow

him. The world wants for more intentional Christians, people committed

to being the salt and light of the world.

So whatever your New Year's

resolution may be, be intentional and you might make it to Christmas 2004

with a changed behavior.

John Hatcher is pastor of Outreach

International Center, 1091 South Jeff Davis Drive, Fayetteville, Georgia

30215. 770-719-0303

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