A Resolution

Why is it that every new year comes with a "new" you (or me), or a better you? Why do we make new years resolutions? Why are we pumped because it is January? Why do we know we should change something but actually wait until January to do it instead of just changing it when we figure it out? I have found that when I make a new years resolution I am more often than not really pumped for about a month or two and then it slowly fades away. I am guessing I am not the only one since at the gym it becomes a traffic jam in January to about mid March and then it goes back to normal where people can actually workout again. I have made resolutions before but I am going to try to stop doing that. I have found that it makes it convenient to set aside the areas of my life that need the biggest change and it sets me up for failure every time. It also made me think of a typical Christian walk. When I first commited my life to God I was pumped and ready for action. I wanted to do everything I could to succeed but I skipped some steps along the way. I dove headfirst into a weekly prayer ministry at church without having a daily one at home. I told everyone I knew about Christ without really taking time to KNOW him personally. I knew He died for me, I knew I loved Him but I didn't know how to really serve Him because I didn't know Him. We(I) get all caught up in the hype, in the adrenaline rush and we burn out....we wake up one day and realize we got in over our heads and we give up. We do it with resolitions and in our Christian walk(notice nobody calls it a Christian run or sprint) I don't know anyone who could run a marathon without first doing the work, the hard grueling daily conditioning that it takes for your body to be able to finish. To run a marathon we have to know our body, our mind and body have to be one, they have to have a relationship that knows when the other is about to give up or is in need. Shouldn't it be the same with Christ? Don't we need to put in the prayer time, the reading, the listening before we can run the marathon. We should be preparing for the day when we have a close, solid, unified and unbreakable relationship with Him. That comes with consistency. With waking up EVERYDAY and doing our best, not in spurts. I find myself too often hearing a sermon and getting all hyped up to have this great renewed relationship and I over and over again skip the essentials and fall right back on my face. I want to never let my walk with Christ be like a new years resolution....I want it to be like training for the marathon of a lifetime!