It’s the Monday after Christmas. With all the celebrations and gatherings, many have some extra time off work this week. For some, today is the official Christmas Day holiday from work. So there is no better time than to take the week between Christmas and New Year’s to step back for reflection on the past and anticipation of the future.

Paul told the Philippians he counted everything he accomplished in his life to be “loss” and “garbage” compared to knowing Jesus (Philippians 3:8). If anyone had the right to brag, Paul did. As a Jewish man, he accomplished so much in his life. Yet, his one focus was on forgetting the achievements of the past and reaching forward to all Jesus had for him to do in the future. Paul gives us a great example to follow as we prepare for the New Year. Make your one focus the same as the Apostle Paul’s.

God worked in your life this last year in powerful ways. Take a sheet of paper and draw a horizontal line from left to right. Divide the line into four segments representing the four quarters of the past year. Anything that happened positive in your year, mark above the line in that corresponding quarter. Anything that happened that was a challenge, mark below the line in the corresponding quarter.

As you look over the past year, what lessons did God teach you from the hills and the valleys? What verse did you discover last year that helped you get through? What principle from the Bible did you find as a recurring theme in your life? What prayer did you pray that connected you to the heart of God? How can those lessons, themes, and Scriptures guide your decisions this coming year? How has God worked in your life?

Pause and ask God to work in your life in the coming year. Ask Him to guide you, bless you, and remind you of His presence.
Go a step further. Take a few moments to look through a devotional, Bible, or Bible app on your phone. Look for a verse that resonates with your heart in this season of life. Then, choose a verse that can be your verse for the coming year. Google “favorite Bible verses” if you need help finding a verse.

Today: Share your verse for next year with a friend in a text, on social media, or write it out in your journal.