Outpourings: To Be Resolute, or Not To Be?

It's that time again, friends.

Courtesy of http://pinterest.com/pin/47217496063358843/

It is time for all of our New Year's resolutions from 2012 to be examined...and time to make new ones for 2013.

Or is it?

To be honest, I have never written down concrete resolutions for each new year. I suppose this is because I never want to act outside of what God wants for my life. I want Him to determine the goals, the resolutions. And in my own feeble mind, I do not always know what He wants for my life.

Or do I?

I looked up the definition of "resolution" this morning. Here are a few from dictionary.com:

• a resolve or determination: to make a firm resolution to do something.
• the act of resolving or determining upon an action or course of action, method, procedure, etc.
• the mental state or quality of being resolved or resolute; firmness of purpose.

Take a look at that last definition: firmness of purpose. I stopped dead in my tracks as I read that statement.

What if, instead of thinking of resolutions as a list of "to do's" for the new year, we sought to understand our being as God's very people?

That would change everything.

Look at what Paul says to the Philippians about their purpose:

12 I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. 13 No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.

Notice that Paul does not say, "I press on to possess riches / a healthier body / straight A's / a salary raise". No, he presses on to achieve his whole being in Christ Jesus--total and complete spiritual transformation! Another translation reads, "I keep working toward that day when I will finally be all that Christ Jesus saved me for and wants me to be."

Jesus has a more beautiful, purposeful plan for you this year than you could ever think up or write down yourself. Eternally speaking, He longs to perfect you and bring you into completion!

Will you let Him? 

What do you think about making resolutions? What has been your experience in the past?