Resolution or Lifestyle Change?

Happy New Year everyone! I hope everyone had a blessed Christmas and New Year's. At the on set of every year people ask the age old question, "What's your New Year's resolution?" I am not a big fan of resolutions because most of the time I never keep, as do so many others. Yet, every year I feel like I end up making them. Once the new year begins I think to myself, "I need to start doing this and stop doing that and get better at this." The reason we do this is because it is a NEW year and we want to start the transition from old to new at the beginning not the end.

I have decided not to call any of my aspirations for the new year resolutions but I am going to look at it as more of a lifestyle change. Most people's goal when making a new year's resolution is to make the change for good not just for the year. Some of us may want to change our appearance, our financial situation, our attitudes, our relationship with our Heavenly Father and so much more. The only problem is that the easiest part of our new lifestyle changes is deciding what to change or improve upon. What comes next will test us and some of us will fail if we allow ourselves to give up. That is my problem. I lose faith in myself too quickly and end up mad at myself. There in itself is my problem, I think it is up to me and me only to accomplish what needs to be done. We all have to realize that it is not up to us to do it, we cannot do it alone. We may fail but only if we give up on God. One of my favorite quotes gives me hope, "The will of God will never take you where the Grace of God will not protect you."

This past Sunday our Pastor, Doug Barker, spoke on fixing our eyes upon the Lord. He said some things that really convicted me and also hit home. He said that we shouldn't bring the things of 2010 into 2011. For 2011 we should have our eyes fixed upon the Lord and not what all we want to get out of this year. If we do this we won't have to worry about how the "resolutions" are going to be accomplished. God has a knack for taking care of the things for us.

Something that just came to mind is the difference between our earthly father and our Heavenly Father. Do you have an earthly father who would do anything for you? Well, if you don't then you can rest in the fact that you have a Heavenly Father who would and has. I mean He sacrificed His Son for us so that we could live for eternity in heaven with Him. We don't deserve it but He loves us that much. If we were to go about our days with that thought on our mind every day throughout the day then I think we would look at what the Lord desires of us a little differently. Hmmm, why do I and the rest of us find this so hard? Because of sin. Thankfully our Heavenly Father is a gracious and forgiving Father.

So, what will be your lifestyle change(s)?