New Year’s Resolutions

As far back as I can remember New Year’s resolutions have been a part of the things people talk about this time of year. Most resolutions involve lofty and desirable goals that range all the way from neglected diets and exercise programs to improving a wide variety of interpersonal relationships. Our society seems to have always been occupied with setting goals and achieving them – to the extent that we celebrate and award outstanding accomplishments in every arena of life. We work hard at bringing our goals into reality and then basking in the glory of the moment as we relish the victory. But the strange thing about goals is that once they are done there seems to be little residual benefit that remains except for the trophies or titles we display in prominent places. Consider all the Olympic athletes who rise to fame briefly, only to fall into personally destructive lifestyles afterward. Think of all the pounds lost only to be regained again; of the businesses that struggle to succeed and then fall to a competitor after they have been on top; of the emptiness that follows arriving at a goal as you try to figure out what to do next. The setting and pursuing of goals is one of those things that sounds good, but ends up being counterproductive in most cases over the long haul.

A better approach that is mentioned sometimes as a more effective alternative is to pursue a lifestyle change. That is the way God’s Kingdom seems to operate as you read through the scriptures. Jesus changes the emphasis from achieving a goal to learning a right way of “doing” that affects every area of our lives. The world recognizes the wisdom of that approach as doctors urge their patients toward a lifestyle change that will restore their health, but it fails to apply that wisdom to the real, spiritual arena of their lives. As the people of God, we are not driven by goals; we are consumed with the desire to “do” life right under the leading and guiding of God’s Spirit. That makes every year full of potential and adventure as we get it more and more “right” day by day!

How exciting to be His people,

Pastor David Vanderpool