How To Keep the Best Resolution
I’ve never been a good keeper of resolutions, though I fall for making a list of them almost every year. Since I was a child, I’ve resolved toward thinner, prettier, fitter. I’ve wanted to be more balanced, more organized, more fun, more well-read.
But statistics show that by Valentine’s Day, we break our January 1 promises. And we’re left feeling guilty and dismayed by our lack of commitment.
But what if we made the Great Trade this year? What if we traded all those good intentions for one singular purpose?
What if we stopped running and started dwelling? What if we stopped wishing and starting worshipping?
Maybe this is what Paul meant 2,000 years ago, when he adopted a singular fixed and deliberate purpose.
“I resolve to know nothing … but Jesus Christ and him crucified.”
— 1 Corinthians 2:2
I want to lay down every one of my overburdened, overwrought, overblown self-promises at the feet of the Overcomer.
I want to to know Jesus. I want to make known Christ and His cross.
This I know: I don’t need to “try harder” to make it happen. I don’t need to beg Jesus to come of out hiding so I can know Him more. He is already here. And I don’t need to hand out tracts on a street-corner to make Him known. This is not a matter of being louder, but of walking quieter. It is, I think, a simpler way. It is to live and love the Lord in all things.
It is to make the Messiah the grand focus of all of our work and knowledge — even the things that appear secular and mundane. It is to see Him at work in the painter’s canvas, at the kitchen sink, inside the cubicle, among the pines. It is to enjoy Him and to honor Him. It is to know His cross, and it is to resolve to fix one’s eyes upon a Savior who already completed the hardest work.
He resolved to die, for love.
And in 2012, I resolve to know Him more. For love.
You hit what I’ve been trying to verbalize! I no longer make resolutions because they wind up burdening me with a sense of failure and condemnation. I become a slave to them. This year I wanted to do a mini-bucket list…the bucket list being anything I could do to serve God!
That’s a brilliant bucket list! I’d love to read/hear more about what that looks like in the coming year, Shirley. Thanks for sharing.
Love this Jennifer! I stopped making resolutions a few years ago. My word and main focus this year….is to Abide in Him no matter what.
Can’t wait to see how God works in this New Year!
Abide. Yes….
“I need Thy presence every passing hour.
What but Thy grace can foil the tempter’s power?
Who, like Thyself, my guide and stay can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, Lord, abide with me.”
I wish I had said that. You touched my heart and soul
“It is to live and love the Lord in all things.” Amen…He is the air I breathe…
Blessed new year, friend.
Blessed new year to you, too, Connie. You’re a gift.
The knowledge of God’s love. This year, we can do no better, grow no richer than to gain the weight of that experience.
Amen and amen! Awesome post, Jennifer! I’ve never made resolutions because I knew they would fall by the wayside. I’ve tried to listen to the Lord to see what He has to say about the coming year. I so loved this! Thank you and may your New Year be filled with the best of the Lord!
Exactly! I’m with you on this and I’m more excited than ever to face a new year!
Yes, quieter, simpler.
Happy New Year, Jennifer.
It all boils down to this one thing, this one God.
Your post is the perfect counterbalance for my post today. I was feeling the weight of my own frustrations today, which can be an important part of making healthy changes, but your encouragement keeps me from taking it too far. I love this Jennifer!! Happy New Year!!
Just got back from reading your post, Shaunie. I really get what you’re saying. I’ve been there. I try, try, try. But try as I might, I fail. But thanks be to God — to GOD! … to the grace and goodness of God! — we can rest in the knowledge that He is at work within us, even amidst our shortcomings. Even when we can’t feel it or see it.
Love you so …
His grace and goodness are the very reason I CAN rest in Him, even as I reset goals and ask Him to help me where I am weak. It’s His glory I want to see at work in me, and I don’t want me to get in the way. I love what you said about it not being about trying harder but about making Him my singular focus. You’re so right! Love you too!
This resonates in my heart Jennifer. I am putting aside the try-harder and longing to lean into Him.
You have taken my inter thoughts and feelings and put them into words….God has given me a word for this year and I want to dwell on His connection to this word in my life and what He wants to teach me…but I know my focus must stay on Him……
Yes! Yes! I will keep my focus on Him, and He will ensure that my life resembles His! Thank you for this beautiful line:
“What if we stopped running and started dwelling? What if we stopped wishing and starting worshipping?”
That is my goal this year. I want to dwell and worship Him. I want God to be my center, so the rest of my life stays submitted and easy-yoked to Him!
Amen! Preach it, sister. Only one resolve, by the grace of God.
A resolve that bears good fruit.
An awesome post, friend. I don’t make resolutions, either. I have chosen an anchor verse (and word from that verse) for 2012. If you get a chance, check it out on my blog. I’m no writer by any stretch of the imagination, but God really inspired me to share this post…how cool is that?!
I, too, don’t make resolutions – and I’m so surprised that so many others don’t as well!
You always say things so well, “I want to lay down every one of my overburdened, overwrought, overblown self-promises at the feet of the Overcomer.” Oh, do I! What a great post!
Yes! The one goal worth setting!
Just a simple “amen.”
Awesome, awesome post! Abiding in Him leads us to see Him in every situation. Love your blog. I’m excited about reading more!