In the Wesleyan tradition, it is our custom to make a personal ‘covenant’ with God in one of our beginning of years services. This may be why resolutions have never really featured in my start the year consciousness, surely the commitment to God and his purpose and priorities is enough to be going on with? Our covenant remembers the covenants God has made with his people throughout the generations – from Noah to Abraham and Moses through to the prophets – and particularly this beauty from Jeremiah which is so intimate and so deeply personal that it vanishes any perceived distance between us and God who promises to be embedded within heart and mind. The covenant then culminates in Jesus who offers The Sacrifice of the New Covenant in his blood Mtt 26:28; Mark 14:24; Lk 22:20; 1Cor 11:25.
