Making the Right Resolutions

January 2017, the beginning of a new year cries out for the long held practice of making new year's resolutions. Hmm,what resolutions should I make? I really need to lose weight. That would be a good thing to tackle. What about becoming more organized? I could rid myself of clothes I don't wear anymore and books that I will not read either for the first or second time. What about increasing the amount of exercise, not just twice a week maybe 3 or more? Again a good project.

 Unfortunately when one pursues these goals it's possible that instead of pleasing God with our efforts we are actually bowing the knee to desires we have turned into idols. Our lives are filled with things that have the potential for our good and God's glory but we often use them to divert our attention from the really important  things. We either look for those things that we think will help us deal with our problems or we look for those things that will help us forget them. Thoughts of God's place in all of these matters are like the seasoning that is lightly sprinkled on a freshly cooked dinner.It adds some flavor but the substantial nutrition comes from the meat and vegetables. God is the one who gives and blesses the heart of our lives,

On a daily basis we forget about God and His attributes. We often do not ask ourselves how our understanding of His attributes should help us deal better with every dip in the road no matter how large or small. Do I look towards the one who has always been there or do I look to the latest self help book or the host of the current popular talk show to solve my problem or put a spring in my step? No matter how helpful any of these things may be we have nothing of  lasting value without Christ..

If only our passion for God and his word exceeded our passion for politics, popular music, and the latest tech craze. What would happen if everyday we woke up eager to find out what's next in our Bible reading. I would love to grow in my knowledge of  God and what he's teaching me day by day. May this year bring us closer to the one who is the  beginning of  all things, the one who will never end. How foolish of us to pay so much attention to things that have no lasting value instead of to God. He is the only one that without fail carries through on all of his promises.

Lamentations 3;22-23 states The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

 Resolved - I  by God's grace will spend the coming year loving God and His word more . I resolve to value more all that has eternal value.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Before Your Eyes and in Front of Your Nose

Recently I read a blog by a man named Jason Helopoulos. He said that many times after church we find ourselves talking to someone who was not on our list. Instead of devoting ourselves to the person in front of us we're looking elsewhere while we are bemoaning missed ministry opportunities on the other side of the room or at the other end of a ringing phone. We often fail to realize that the one in front of our eyes is our ministry opportunity. His blog jogged my memory. One year when we lived in Vermont I did a paper on understanding how God wants us to minister within the church. I called what God would have us do an ifoyn (in front of your nose) ministry. I remembered my friend Mom Walker. She had a son who was college age and he would often invite other students home with him. This ministry came to her. She did not have to agonize about what should she find to do. On Sunday morning as she would greet visitors, she would listen for information that would link this person to so...
Read more

Anticipating a New Arrival, Remembering Old Lessons

I've been a grandmother for a little over 5 years and in April we will be welcoming our fifth grandchild. I wish I had paid a lot more attention to the details of being a mother of small children while I was going through it. I started journals for each of my 4 but I wrote very little. I guess I was too busy living it to write that much. It seems like all  I can remember are inconsequential things like "Very few of your toys made any noise." or embarrassing things like "When you were nursing, you used to always----"  Then I am reminded that because of God's grace there are lessons I remember. Often when a young woman gets married she is told by someone in her world, “ This wedding is all about you.” To be in control , to be able to make as many of her desires happen as possible,  wouldn’t every bride want this? Usually the new couple doesn’t get past the honeymoon before the bride has to drop the “it’s all about me” attitude. If the couple wants the marri...
Read more

A Tale of Two Chairs and a Rug

My mother became a resident of heaven two years ago on March 14. Slowly, initially one by one, pieces of furniture left the family home. I took home a small desk which had been given as a wedding present in the last of the 19th century. Later my brother loaded a piece that had belonged to my grandmother. It was called a pie safe made from a golden colored wood. The front was covered with tin panels punched with a design. The original use was to keep pies safe as they cooled and to keep them protected from impatient family members. For many years I remembered it as the place to find card games. As time went on furniture began to leave at at a more rapid rate. One of the pieces was a recliner that I had asked for. It was a smaller recliner than ours with a greater firmness.  Mom had this recliner for years. For about 2 years of her life she would take naps daily. She would call those naps " toes up", a term used by one of her favorite novelists. Since I have fallen in love wi...
Read more