Saturday, January 1: Resolutions

On New Year’s Eve, many people across the world make resolutions, attempting to change some aspect of themselves. Typically, those changes have to do with what is on the outside, rather than what is on the inside. Losing weight, quitting smoking, quitting drinking, getting out of debt, becoming more organized and spending more time with family are some of the items that top the list of most common resolutions.


The word resolution comes from the same Old English root word as resolve, which points to making a decision or deciding upon a course of action. To be resolute is to be firm or unwavering. Yet the deeper truth of resolutions is that showers often can last longer! Comedian Joey Adams said, “May all your troubles last as long as your New Years’ resolutions.” Noted American author and humorist Mark Twain had this to say:

Now is the accepted time to make your regular, annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual.”

Of course, we all are aware that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Fortunately, for Christians, God’s intentions in our lives supersede our own intentions, as He will complete His work in us! Resolutions can remind Christians of the great gifts God has given to each of us:


22 Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassions fail not.
23 They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
Lamentations 3:22-23


With our Lord’s forgiveness of us on a daily basis, we can walk in freedom! God grants us the ability to change, yet without His presence in our lives, those changes are amazingly short-lived. Yet instead of focusing on the outer manifestations of those resolutions, God desires for us to focus on the motives within. Motives have to do with the heart, and when those motives change, actions can follow suit.


3 Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD?
Or who may stand in His holy place?
4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol,
Nor sworn deceitfully.
Psalm 24:3-4


Our Lord desires for actions to change, as what others see should reflect the changes that He has made on the inside of each of us. But never lose sight that the inner changes must occur first. So as we say goodbye to one year and greet another, what changes would God like to see in your life? At the top of the list, He always desires for us to draw closer to Him. If that is your desire, then He certainly will grant you the desires of your heart, as He desires more closeness in His relationship with us! Have you read the entire Bible? If God was giving a speech tomorrow, would you be there to hear it? He has given us His Word. By not reading the Bible, it seems as if we do not care what He has to say. Prayer is also vastly important, especially the gift He has given us to pray for others. If you are making bad decisions, pray for godly wisdom and let that be your resolution.

If we are focusing on God, and deepening that relationship, He will help with all those other issues that seem to grab the spotlight in the hopes and dreams of unbelievers. Each year, we are one year closer to seeing His face. Each day, we are one day closer to sitting at His feet. Each moment, we are one moment closer to the Lord calling us home! On the Jewish New Year, Yom Kippur, God’s chosen people made atonement for their sins. Reflect on your sins of the past year, ask for His forgiveness and pray for His help in following the straight and narrow path that leads to life with Him, in Him and through Him! Happy New Year!


5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
James 1:5-8