Resolved

A few years ago I saw a bumper sticker that simply read “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Respect”.  I thought it was a great idea – actions that would impact our bodies, our resources, our planet, and our relationships.  Later I came up with something similar: “Pray, Ponder, Patience, Purge”.  Each of these eight words has to do with “Change” – something most of us don’t like.  Yet, at this beginning of another year – a “new” year – many people make a “Resolution” to change something.  The definition of “resolved”, used as a verb, is to come to a  definite or earnest decision about; make up one’s mind; determine (to do something about).  This beginning of a new year is an excellent time to start fresh; begin again; turn a page; make a resolution!  Many have already decided that this is the year to loose weight, exercise and eat healthier; quit smoking or stop drinking alcohol; spend more time with the family.  These are all worthwhile and admirable goals, and certainly worth the effort.

However, a wise friend recently wrote that it is only the number on the far right of the year that changes.  2020 becomes 2021.  Life continues; the days are pretty much the same.  Ecclesiastes 1:9 says, “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun”.  We do not know the future but we do know the One who controls it!  If we are His, we can rest in His capable hands!  In Ezekiel 36:26, the Lord said to Israel, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.  And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws”.  Now that would be a resolution!

As the years pass, I become more and more aware that my days are limited.  Psalm 90:12 reminds us “So teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom”.  Psalm 39:5 tells us that our “days are a mere handbreadth; and that each man’s life is a mere breath”.  So, even more important than a new diet or change of a bad habit, is my relationship with the Lord and how I am living for Him.  Hebrews 10:22-24, “Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.  Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful.  And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds”.   This is another godly resolution!

God be in my head and in my understanding;
God be in my eyes and in my looking;
God be in my mouth and in my speaking;
God be in my heart and in my thinking;
God be at my end and at my departing.
-Author Unknown, 1514

Our hope is not in the new year, but in the One who makes all things new!