A Week of Resolutions

Happy New Year Living Free in Him Readers!!!

This week as we continue our first full week of the New Year, I wanted to share three resolutions I feel the Lord gave me for this year.

They aren't your "typical" new years resolutions.

Before I share mine though, I thought I'd share a few of my nine year old son's news years resolutions.

His resolutions included:

1.  Drink less apple cider.  (He hardly ever drinks apple cider.)

2.  Not to use the bathroom past 5 o'clock.  (Ummm....that doesn't sound like a good idea.)

3.  To not blink for 15 seconds. (Let's not even try to understand why.)  

No, he doesn't quite understand the concept of New Years resolutions.  Upon further investigation into his reasoning for these "goals", I discovered that he thought "New Years Resolutions" were only for New Years Eve.  In his mind, these were goals for him to achieve that day only.  He didn't understand they were meant to be goals to improve his life for the entire year.  And by his choices, that is pretty clear.  {smile}

However, even though his understanding of New Year's resolutions was skewed, most people may approach theirs with the same mentality.  They set them with low expectations of follow through for the entire year.

I don't judge.  I've been there.   At least there is a goal in mind, even if it is short lived.

"Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith." Hebrew 12: 1b-2a. (emphasis added) 

The key words I want to emphasize are "looking unto Jesus".  

The main reason for failure, I believe, is our earthly effort and our striving to achieve in our flesh.  Our flesh is incapable of success.  Only the Spirit of God inside of us can achieve success.

Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, but let us do it by looking unto Jesus, who is the author and finisher of our faith.  It is only by looking unto Jesus that we can finish the race.

And there will be moments of failure.  However, when you keep looking to Jesus and not in your own ability, His grace gives you the strength to rise up and continue even after a fall.

One failure doesn't mean the race is over, it just means you have stumbled on the path towards the goal.  The race is only over when you quit running and get off the course.

This week and into next week, I will share my three resolutions for this year.  I am sure I will fail along the way this year, but my intention is to run the race with endurance looking unto Jesus to help me finish.  And I believe I will be closer to the finish line at the end of 2015.

I just have to keep running.

And unlike my son, I will be blinking my eyes as much as necessary with plenty of apple cider and bathroom breaks!