This is the time of year when people want to talk about New Year's resolutions.  While it's admirable for a man to want to better himself, to press upward, a question should arise in our minds:  "If it isn't important enough for me to do today, then what makes me think I'll do it next year?"  I don't mean to ruin 2017 for you before it's even started.  I just want us to make sure that we are men who accomplish, not men who spend our lives in frustration, spinning our wheels, groping through life, trying to get some traction.  So, what's the answer?  Psalm 95:7b-8a calls to us with these words:  "Today, if you will hear His voice:  'Do not harden your hearts...'"  We have to let the Lord be the initiator and the sustainer of the good works in our lives. It breaks my heart to see good men running themselves ragged trying to paddle hard enough to catch the next wave.  There is always another hot growth industry, another book that Christians are supposed to be reading, another fitness program, etc.  All the while, the Lord stands, knocking.  He longs for anyone to hear His voice and open the door.  The one God wants to be close with each of us, guiding us, strengthening us, making us better men, the men our families need.

Hebrews 4:7 reminds us of Psalm 95, not to harden our hearts.  Gentlemen, stop working so hard.  Oh, there will be hard work enough, but it will be work that accomplishes its purpose, because when the Lord, who spoke matter itself into existence, speaks, it is done.