New Year Guest devotional from Julia Reffner

Resolved

At this moment no doubt people all over the country are avidly working on setting goals for the New Year.  Whether it is to lose 20 pounds, organize your closets, begin exercising more regularly, ask the boss for a raise, or spend more time with your family so many of us have resolutions.

Resolution is defined as “firm determination, a course of action determined or decided on.”  Therein lies the problem.  It is not news to any of us that most resolutions run their course before the groundhog comes burrowing through the snow.

“Being sensible that I am unable to do anything without God’s help, I do humbly entreat him by His grace to enable me to keep these Resolutions, so far as they are agreeable to His will, for Christ’s sake.  Remember to read over these Resolutions once a week.”

This is the starting statement to Jonathan Edward’s 21 Resolutions (http://www.apuritansmind.com/christianwalk/ResolutionsOfJonathanEdwards.htm). 

Are we making a firm determination or are we humbly entreating God’s grace?  Are we remembering that we can do nothing without His help?  Psalm 127:1 says, “Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh [but] in vain.”

Resolved: To be helplessly dependent on God, to repent quickly of my sin and return to the correct path with His help.  I resolve to humble myself before his face and to obey Him with all my heart.

James 4:6 says, “But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.”

Often goal-setting is very appealing to my flesh side.  I’m a recovering perfectionist, a control freak.  I research exhaustively about everything from the causes of my son’s rash to which model of refrigerator is the most energy efficient.  I spend countless hours pouring over a phonebook sized curriculum catalog, making charts and lists, and checking curriculum samples on websites before making a single purchase. 

Yet it is when I fall on my face and admit my hopeless dependence, it is those times when I see His work in my life most clearly. 

With so many worthless things of the world vying for my attention my resolution for this year is simple, yet not easy.  In a profoundly simple message  C. J. Mahaney exhorts readers to “keep the main thing (the gospel) the main thing.” 

That is my exhortation to you and myself for a blessed 2011.  Simple, yet if we focus on keeping the gospel the main thing in our lives isn’t it amazing how everything else falls into place?  Suddenly our trials come into perspective.  Somehow financial gain or loss is not nearly so important. 

 In the words of Graham Kendrick’s worship song “Knowing You”:

“All I once held dear, built my life upon

All this world reveres and wars to own

All I once thought gain I have counted loss

Spent and worthless now compared to this.”

My exhortation to you (and to myself as I seek to “preach the gospel to myself daily” in the words of Jerry Bridges) is to put first things first in 2011, to keep the main thing just that.  We serve a mighty God who delights in His children, let’s delight in Him this year.

 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

–Matthew 6:33

 Julia Reffner enjoys writing about books, Jesus, and her life as a homeschool mom of 2 littles at http://www.darkglassponderings.blogspot.com/.  She is an active book reviewer for both http://www.titletrakk.com/ and the Historical Novel Society (http://www.historicalnovelsociety.org/).  She also blogs two Tuesdays per month at The Writer’s Alley (http://www.thewritersalleys.blogspot.com/) on topics related to writing craft.  Her current work-in-progress is a women’s fiction novel.