Two things tend to happen to Protestants in January: Our churches encourage us to fast, and to start a program of reading the bible. The fasting is because we’re ostensibly seeking God’s face for the new year—we want to start it right by showing him we’re really serious about following him, and really seeking some new revelations from him about his upcoming plans—and so we fast. The bible-reading is because, well, we’re Christians; we oughta read the bible. And if you’ve never read the bible all the way through, it’s high time you made it your New Year’s resolution, and start a-reading.
My church calls for a fast every January. And I hate fasting—and so does everyone, ’cause we’re Americans and don’t like to deprive ourselves of anything if we can help it. That’s why, I suspect, so many of us choose to go on the “Daniel Fast,” which is a popular fast-but-not-really-a-fast. You don’t actually go without food. You go without some foods, namely meat and sugar and oil. It’s a diet, really. It’s an exercise in self-control, and frankly a lot of us could use self-control, so in in the end it’s a good thing.