Only one New Year's Resolution

Many of us make resolutions, but in scripture there is only one New Year's resolution that God asks of us. In fact, it is a resolution we must make daily and especially every time we face difficulty. Listen to Paul's words in Philippians 3:12-14, "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." Paul is talking about the one goal of knowing Christ intimately, of walking with him every day. In order to know Christ more deeply we must forget what is behind and press on toward what is ahead. Forgetting what lies behind means leaving at the cross all of our failures, mistakes, sins, pride, idols, self-righteousness, and disappointments. When we linger on our hurts, we are in effect saying, "Jesus what you did for me is not enough." But the cross demonstrates that God is ultimately loving and just. When we think of the past hurts or disappointments, we need to say, "Lord, I know that you have forgiven me, and you can handle whatever happens to me in the future, and that your death on the cross proves your love for me. I give you all of my pain and frustration. Allow me to forget what lies behind in the past because it has already been dealt with at the cross." Straining on toward what lies ahead means focusing our attention on Christ and what he is asking us to do in obedience to him. We do this in faith, knowing that "God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." Perhaps God is asking us to try something new this year. Perhaps he is asking us to take a risk for Him. Perhaps he is challenging us to show hospitality to strangers. Perhaps he is asking us to develop better communication within our families. All of this takes sacrifice and faith, but the joy comes in the journey as we act in faith, and God shows himself faithful, because he is calling us to himself. My encouragement to you as we begin this new year is to resolve to live by faith and focus on knowing Christ and living like Jesus. God has called you, and wants you to know him. He is calling you to himself, and he loves you and has forgiven you. Let us resolve to know him more and serve him daily.