New Year's Resolutions...God's Way

 

I don’t do new year’s resolutions.  Too much pressure!  I know myself well enough to know that I won’t stick with them.  I do much better with long term goals.  Goals that can be broken down into little pieces and slowly, but surely be realized.

It’s not cynicism, as suggested by one of my heroes, Dennis Prager in one of his latest fireside chats.  Prager is a fan of new year’s resolutions, and it is true, that he is ever the optimist.  But I’m not a cynic…I’m just a realist.  I believe in setting clear and obtainable goals.

Wait...what’s the difference?  Resolution or goal?  Setting the goal of writing one blog post per week is really a resolve to … write one blog post per week.  Hmmm?  Maybe I do believe in setting New Year’s resolutions.  Calling them “goals” does not change the fact that I am resolute and determined to follow through with a given task.

But I do find it easy to get caught up in the drive to obtain my goals and fail to listen to God’s call.  James addresses this issue in his letter to the twelve tribes.  “Now listen, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.’  Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow.  What is your life?  You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.  Instead, you ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.’”  (James 4:13-15).

Certainly, there are things we can do each year to improve our well-being.  I can always stand to lose some weight and exercise more.  Eat healthier and dump the bad habits.  It’s good to make these things ongoing mantras in our lives with the understanding that healthy living puts us in a position to be at the ready to act on Christ’s call.  But it is that call that should always be our primary focus.  Not just during the first two or three months of the year.  Can you imagine what this world would look like if we moved away from our self-centered resolutions and put God in complete control of our lives? To listen intently to where he calls us to serve next.

So…this year I resolve to be a servant.  To go where God calls me.  I won’t always succeed because my “humanness” will get in the way.  But each day, I will embrace opportunities to serve.  May God bless us with those opportunities.  Happy New Year!