RECOMMENDED RESOLUTIONS

For many New Year’s is a time for making resolutions. Typically people resolve to either quit a bad habit or start a good one. Usually such resolutions are detached from any spiritual or eternal matter of concern. For the believer New Year’s Day can be an appropriate time to reflect on his or her relationship with Christ. Matters of spiritual importance should guide us. Did I grow in my walk with Christ in 2008? Did I use my spiritual gifts for the building up of the body of Christ? Did I take advantage of opportunities to share the gospel? With regards to the upcoming year, resolutions can be helpful as long as we are careful to remember that our own resolve is not enough. Did not our Lord warn us, “Apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). Peter resolved to not deny the Lord, but failed miserably. Some months later, having been filled with the Spirit, he boldly proclaimed Christ in the face of ongoing and serious threats. Inasmuch as the Christian life is a walk by the Spirit, our resolutions ought to relate to His Work in our lives. The Word of God, prayer, and the fellowship of believers are the spiritual disciplines that the Spirit uses to change us. To the extent that we abide in His Word, devote ourselves to prayer, and are faithful to fellowship with His people—the Spirit has more freedom to accomplish His work in and through us. Resolutions that relate to the frequency and quality of our involvement in these spiritual disciplines are resolutions that are consistent with God’s will and thus matter for eternity. If we are to make New Year’s resolutions, let us make them: 1) in dependence upon the grace of God; 2) consistent with the will of God; and 3) for the glory of God.

Pastor Jerry