New Year’s Resolution

As we start the New Year it is customary for new resolutions to be made. We take account of ourselves and say, “I need to quit smoking, or drink less coffee, or eat better or exercise more or date better people or be more patient with the kids etc.” There are countless things we could seek to improve on or change, but can we stick to it? I know the first couple of months at the gym it is super busy, however by March it has thinned out and by April, we the regulars, have the gym back to ourselves. What happened to all those people with their earnest resolutions? It is my opinion that their resolutions were not “deep enough.” They did not deal with the whole man. Foundational to all of us are our souls, our inner person and the world we live in and rub shoulders with largely ignores its importance. The emphasis is always on the outward and aside from this shallow value system, life is just busy. Therefore unless we are purposeful with our time with God ( which our spirit equals 1/3 of our person) there will be no time to pursue Him. We get caught up in the demands and minutia of life. How do we prevent that from happening to us? We talk about un-cluttering our closets, garages etc., the same is true with our life. And to determine what we keep and or continue to do and what to discard or stop doing is based on our internal values; who we want to be as people. This takes serious thought, for our decisions should be life changing.

Did you know that the apostle Paul made a New Year’s Resolution list? Well actually I don’t think he waited till the New Year, but it is a very comprehensive list that is filled with thought and conviction. There is nothing shallow or superficial about his list and in studying his writings, I am convinced that he through the help of the Holy Spirit, kept them.  In Phillipians 3:6 – 14 we find this extensive list, or we could even call it his personal constitution. As with legal or civil matters, we do not  change the constitution, we conform ourselves to it; such should be the seriousness of our resolutions. Here’s Paul’s, I’ll give us a little background first…

“Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; ( he was in an “elite club” if you will, his ” pedigree” was the top of the top)
Concerning zeal ( for the Jewish faith) persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless ( he conformed himself to the law with a passion and he saw Christianity as a threat against Judiasm and he was determined to stop it, but his life was radically changed, read Acts 8&9)
But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.
Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:
That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead
Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.
Brethren, (again, as in, “I will repeat” ) I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”

Amen, that is quite a constitution to live by. As a Pharisee, Paul was serious about his faith. As a Christian he was just as serious if not more so, and that I believe is part of our problem; the majority of us do not take our faith serious enough. Scripture teaches we are to count or consider the cost. However we hear that God loves us and Christ paid for our sins and we think, “Great, I got Eternity in the bag,” and we go on and flirt with the world, compromising our faith and values.  We never clearly separate ourselves from the world rather we get caught up in the per suits of our own wants and desires (materialism) but not God’s.

The word divorce has terrible consequences to a family, however in this application it is exactly what we need to do. We need to divorce ourselves from the world. In a divorce both parents still need to talk working out matters regarding the children. However aside from that there is a clear division between them. We still need to interact with the world, but what are their ambitions, desires and values, we are not to take on, rather Christ’s values and desires.

What the world uses to fulfill their inner needs, or what they do to make themselves feel good about who they are etc., is not what we do. We drink at one well and one well only, the well of God’s love. It is always Holy, Lovely and Satisfying. We need nothing more. To not do this is to make ourselves vulnerable to the world’s calling, especially since 1/3 of our person is the man or woman of the flesh, our carnal nature. The fleshly cravings live inside of us. It’s like the movie ” Sleeping with the enemy.” We not only sleep but do everything else as well and its voice grows louder the more we stay away from God’s well of love. Here’s a poem that in a few words  summarizes what I am trying to say.

We must lose ourselves to find ourselves…

We must lose our pride to find God Grace…

We must lose our rights to live in God’s…

We must lose our idols to find the one true God…

We must lose our self ambition to encounter God’s….

We must lose to win, for in God’s economy the currency is faith…

We must lose all that we clutch so tightly to gain what the Father seeks to give us. Without this step of faith our Christian Walk will always be anemic; lacking power, conviction, peace and joy, is that how we want to live? I know I don’t; I refuse to live like that. There is no price I am not willing to pay to be closer to Christ. Some costs have been easy to pay, others difficult requiring the help of the Holy Spirit and so will be the future.

We will revisit these verses in following Vida’s to get a clearer understanding of what Paul is saying. This is an overview, big picture look at Paul’s resolutions.

Father God,

I see how much room there is in me for growing closer to You. I realize now that most of my Christian life that what I thought was faith was nothing more than a ” lukewarm,” half hearted commitment on my part. Forgive me Father, for You are truly worth all my efforts. Help me to divorce myself completely from the world and be wholly Yours. Thank you and Amen