Every New Year we pull them out.......you know....."the list." Those things we resolved to do or not to do anymore. We have blissfully forgotten that last year (or was it the year before) we pledged to ourselves that this year it would be different. We would actually make resolutions that we fully intended to keep.
What are some common "New Years' Resolutions" this year? They begin with the usual: spending more time with family and friends and enjoying life more. We resolve to lose weight, exercise regularly, quit smoking, quit drinking, and the list goes on....*sigh*
Where does our desire for new resolutions come from each year? Maybe some of the things that we have been doing have caused health issues and so we decide to quit doing some things and start doing others. Perhaps our relationships have begun to falter or lose that spark they once had and so we resolve to make whatever changes are necessary to mend or save these relationships.
My husband and I began such a journey many years ago. After years of resolutions and attempts to change things ourselves, our relationship (which began all wrong in the first place) was in shambles and our family was in total disarray.
I wish I could say we had some kind of noble calling, but that would be far from accurate. We were and still are believers, we attended church regularly, drove the church van, taught classes and did the best we knew how to live the "christian" life.
Finally, separated, angry, and bitter, we reached the end of ourselves and our self-effort. With no place else to turn, we cried out to God for help. Well, He did put us back together, but we were just like we were before. However; as we began to really look around at other believers, they were not really any better off than we were!
We made a startling discovery: Christianity as we knew it did not work. So we prayed what was to be the most life changing prayer of our lives. "Lord, we want to know the TRUTH of Your Word the way You meant it when You inspired it to be written, and not what some man has said it means."
Our "resolution" may not have even been at the beginning of the year, but with this declaration and prayer began a journey that has only intensified our resolve as the years have passed. We began to have a hunger for the Word of God and we literally had books and tapes to show up at our home in the mail and even on the steps of our house! To this day we do not know who sent them, but they were a constant reminder that God was answering our cry.
God put people into our lives that spoke truth to us from the Word of God that we had never heard before. We learned to study and invested everything we could afford in traveling to camp meetings, seminars, family and marriage conferences and deliverance and healing ministries.
Little by little the pieces of the puzzle began to fit and years of religious bondage began to fall away like the scales from the Apostle Paul's eyes! Suddenly we had ears to hear and the more we heard, the more wonderful the story grew. How great our God is and patient and kind and how great is His plan for our lives.
Where did we get off track? I don't know the answer to that except to say that from the very beginning it has been our tendency...."yea, hath God said?" That lie continues to haunt us today as we cannot believe that our God can be THAT good. Well, He is THAT good and even more than we can comprehend.
And that brings me to the reason for writing this. As you are planning your "New Years' Resolutions" this year, why not make it a radical one that instead of you changing, it can change you!
Oh.....and about that journey of ours...to be continued...............
Happy New Year!
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