Every year brings the normal discussions. Examples are: “This year I am resolving to lose weight”, “I
want to read through the Bible this year", and so on. We have all heard and said New Year’s resolutions that in many cases never find fruition.
I’m not interested in this article to explore how to keep
resolutions; rather, what should our resolutions be. My question for you is this: If we were to
sit down and write out our resolutions of 2013 on paper, how many would we
write before we saw any regarding our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ?
I am guilty! I write
things dealing with work, family, fitness, skills, and many more. Finally, I write something along the lines of
memorizing more scripture, or telling more people about Christ. I’m not saying that work, family, fitness,
skills, etc. are not things to desire higher efficiency or productivity, but I challenge
myself on the order of my priorities!
So, what are some steps we can take to make sure our
goals and resolutions for the New Year are in the right order of priority?
Psalm 46:10 tells us; “Be still and know
that I am God…” The idea here is “to
stop!!”
Stop working so hard for a little bit!
Stop trying to make your life pieces fit so
perfectly in your mind!
Stop
yelling at your kids for making you “look bad”!
Stop
worrying about what people think of you!
Take a break and BE STILL!! Know that God is in control! The rest of the verse says, “I will be
exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” Why do we work so hard to make a name for
ourselves, when the only NAME that matters is JESUS!!
Matthew 6:33 “But seek ye first the kingdom
of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
Our first priority is the Kingdom of
God. What are “these things” that will
be added?
We
seek great blessings and reputation! We
seek promotions and prestige! But what
if we sought the greatness of God? What
if we asked God to liberally pour out to us His unmerited grace that we can
shine the kingdom of God to others we come in contact with? What if we sought to be great in the kingdom
of God, rather than this kingdom of men?
If
we seek eternal wealth, the wealth we desire on earth will come to pass! It may be that because of our eternal focus,
we have NO desire to partake of the things only this world has to offer. However, the things that accompany our
eternal treasure, which we all should be laying up, will be provided by our
heavenly father!
Find a quiet place and review 2012 with a piece
of paper in hand. Write down the things
in your life that you would classify as time wasters:
Examples
could be TV, Facebook, and certain acquaintances.
Ephesians 5:15-16:
“See
then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time,
because the days are evil.”
We are
to be careful in how we live, and not be wasteful or unwise with our time. The word “redeeming” is the idea to purchase
or buy up from the possession or power of others. We need to protect our time from wasteful
activities, and use our time more for the kingdom of God!
There are so many other things that could be said about
prioritizing our New Year resolutions!
But I am confident that if you are still, put God first, and use your
gift of time for the Kingdom and not waste it on insignificant things; you will
have a much more productive 2013!!
For HIS Glory,
Nate
Great advice, Nate, and Bible-based! If we are still and draw near to Him, He will be near to us (James 4:8). Then we will delight in Him and He will grant us the desires of our heart (Psalm 37:4), because these desires will be conformed to His perfect will. The result of these desires is that we will want to spend our time and resources in ways that honor Him.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, the world, the devil and the flesh will do all they can to keep us from His work, so we must be vigilant (1 Peter 5:8).
Thanks for the great post, & Happy New Year!
Laurie
http://savedbygracebiblestudy.blogspot.com/
Thank you Laurie, and great add-on thoughts:)
ReplyDelete