Most of us don’t like to choose. We’d much rather have our cake and eat it, too. (Side note: what does that even mean? I always eat cake when I have it.)

Anyway, I digress.

There will be times when we can’t have it both ways, and when those times come, we will have to choose between

being light or liked,
being a voice or an echo,
being prophetic or popular,
being tenacious or timid,
being committed or casual.

I pray not only that we would make the choice, but that we would have the courage to make the right choice no matter the cost.

I woke up this morning with those two words echoing in my soul. May it’s for me, maybe it’s for one of you who is reading this. More than likely, it’s for both.

It turns out that the Bible has a lot to say about holding fast.

Hebrews 3:14 tells us to hold on to our confidence in Christ.

Titus 1:9 tells us to hold fast to the Word, so we can teach it well even to those who fight against it.

2 Thessalonians 2:15 encourages us to hold fast to what we’ve been taught.

1 Thessalonians 5:21 breaks it down even more simply and tells us to hold fast to what is good.

Simple, right? And yet, we hold fast to so many other things that didn’t make the list!

Opinions.

Positions.

Power.

There are more that we could list, but you get the point. We must not only hold fast, but hold fast to the right things. In the last look of the Bible, John is writing letters to 7 churches, and in the only letter written that includes no correction, he drops this encouragement.

“I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown.” (Revelation‬ ‭3:11‬ ‭ESV, emphasis mine)

What did they have that was worth holding fast? The promise of an open door, and a love for the Word of Jesus and the name of Jesus that had been tested by persecution and was genuine. He told them that He was coming quickly — not a word that defines length of time but rather lack of delay — and that there would be those who would fight to take their crown from them. Ultimately, the crown was what they had and what they needed to hold fast to.

You get 3 guesses at who the crown was and the first 2 don’t count. That’s right. The crown was Jesus. The prophet Isaiah had written about it long before the Word became flesh:

“In that day the Lord of hosts will become a beautiful crown and a glorious diadem to the remnant of His people;” (Isaiah‬ ‭28:5‬ ‭NASB, emphasis mine)

There will be no end to people who want to take away our crown, but in all the clamoring and jockeying for power and position, hold fast to Jesus, y’all. He is all we need, and that relationship is worth holding on to.

As this is the first day of the last month of the first half of 2021, let me ask you, “Are you where you thought you’d be at this part of the year?”

Maybe you are, and maybe you aren’t, but I bet there are areas of your life that you want to be better, and a 30-day month is the perfect time to take on a challenge that will make a huge difference in where you are and where you’re going.

Now, I’m not going to suggest crazy challenges like “Do 3 hours of Crossfit every day for 30 straight days,” because there’s no sense setting ourselves up for failure, and a lot of 30-day challenges do just that. So, here are some 30-day challenges that are actually good for you and possible for you.

1. Walk every day

It doesn’t have to be a marathon or even a fast-paced walk. Just get outside and move. Walk with someone you love (or at least like) and have a conversation. Twenty minutes of walking a few times a week is great exercise, so starting a string of 30 consecutive days will be even better.

2. Read the Bible every day

There are 32 books in the Bible that can be read in 30 minutes or less. I’ve placed a chart from Desiring God’s website here as a reference. Read 30 of them during the month, one each day. Or, if that seems like too much, read one proverb a day. Read Proverbs 2 on the 1st day, Proverbs 2 on the 2nd, and so on.

3. Drink water every day

I think this one ranks up there with something we know we’re supposed to do anyway and probably even think we’re already doing, but in reality, a lot of us don’t. So, instead of always opening the fridge to get a drink, use that cool little water dispenser on the door and drink something healthy instead. Do it a couple of times a day for the next 30 days and see how much better you feel.

4. Sleep more consistently

Our sleep habits are all over the place, right? So for one month, simply make bedtime a priority. Tell yourself that you’re going to bed at 10:00 pm and that you’ll start unplugging 30 minutes before that. Or 10:30 pm or 11:00 pm. Adjust it based on your waking time, but challenge yourself that you’ll get no less than 7 hours of sleep for 30 straight nights. Unless you’re a parent of a newborn, you really can do this. And parents of newborns, I’m praying for you! It’s only a season and I promise you will sleep again.

5. Read every day

I was going to say read more every day, but not everyone even likes to read. If you’re one of the non-readers, challenge yourself to read for 10 minutes a day for the first week and then add 5 minutes to each day in each following week. You’ll be reading 25 minutes a day in the last week of the month and literally find that you can’t put the book down! If you need some reading suggestions, take a look at the books I’ve already read this year.

PRO TIP: Stacking these challenges is next level, and if you do the second challenge of reading the Bible every day, you’ll be knocking this one out at the same time. BOOM!! A 2-for-1 life hack.

6. Practice solitude every day

The key word here is “practice” because this one takes some getting used to. There is something powerful about sitting alone and quiet that can help us remember where we stand in the larger scheme of things. The Psalmist said that when we’re still, we’d know that God is God (and conversely, that we are not). Learning to spend time quiet and alone is a great discipline, and apps like Pause and Soultime are excellent tools to get you started.

There are others 30-day challenges you could do that are a bit more ambitious. You could cut out added sugars, watch less television (or no television), refuse your screen time, start an exercise routine, begin a budget or spend less, and more. I think we like to tackle those first because we feel so frustrated with where we are that we want to hit it hard, but what you’ll find is that doing one of the 6 I suggested will actually jumpstart you into some of the ones I listed here at the end. It’s a process, and when you start it, you’ll find that you can trust it.

Feel free to leave a comment with some challenges you’ve done! I can’t wait to see where we all are on the first day of the second half of the year. Let’s go!!