So, the Christmas season is done…save some returns and one final thing. This is the time of year when many of us feel compelled to make a New Year’s resolution. You know what I’m saying…it’s time to pledge to take off 20 pounds, to spend more time with your family, to spend less time on bad habits and more energy on good ones. I know, I’ve been sucked into the resolution trap before hoping that through the “magic” of a new beginning somehow I would keep my promises to myself, to my wife, or my promise to those around me who I care so much about. But what typically happens is that four to five weeks into the new year I begin to lose some motivation. That pledge I made in December seems so far away and even though I greatly desire to follow through with my plans, I have somehow lost the drive to persevere with the goal. It seems too difficult, too pointless, or too unrealistic to complete.
There’s nothing wrong with wanting to change, is there? There’s nothing wrong with pushing ourselves to improve, adjust, and become more of what we’d like to be. But part of the problem with the New Year’s resolution is that so many of them are totally and completely about us; it’s our will that will see us through; it’s our resolve that will allow us to become something more. This idea stands in contrast to the change that we desire to see regarding our spiritual lives and our closeness to Jesus. We know that it’s only through pursuing God and the work that He does in our lives to transform and mould us that true change actually takes place. We realize this at a spiritual level but somehow there’s a disconnect in our thinking when it comes to the need for God in other areas of our lives. It’s not our will that changes habits, both good and bad; it’s not our will that drives us to be a better spouse, more effective parents and grandparents, or more loving and caring friends. God wants to work holistically…God wants to be part of every region of our lives, not just the spiritual.
Deuteronomy 6:5 says, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” This verse implies a total and complete love for God binding the emotional, spiritual, and physical into one focused love…one purposeful existence. After being asked by the spiritual leaders of His day about what commandment is the most important to keep, Jesus replied in Mark 12:30: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength”. Notice that Jesus basically quotes Deuteronomy but adds “with all your mind” incorporating the logical in the holistic interrelation of devotion that God requires of His followers. God wants us to know that it’s all or nothing…we can’t be devoted spiritually without being devoted emotionally, psychologically, and physically. This means that in order to truly love God and follow Him we have to be completely given over to Him. All of our habits, all of our desires, all of our passions, and all of our pastimes must revolve around a complete submission to Him.
As you think about this upcoming year, and as you think about the changes you’d like to see in your life over the next year, I want you to think about the idea of complete submission. Are you His…totally? Are your habits and your hobbies His as well as you heart? The beauty of holistic surrender is that God doesn’t ask for it without empowering His followers to accomplish it. Look at Galatians 5:16-17, 24-25:
I say then, walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit desires what is against the flesh; these are opposed to each other, so that you don’t do what you want. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, we must also follow the Spirit.
The simple fact is, with complete submission everything else will fall into place. Worried about finances and the economy? Submit your checkbook to God, thank Him for what He’s already given you, and you’ll find the burden fall from your shoulders. Concerned about a family member? Submit the fact that you don’t have control over those individuals, pray for them, and give those relationships up to God. Concerned about future decisions? Admit you don’t know the answers and realize that God does. Submit to His reign and trust His decisions while heartily seeking the answers for life’s issues by consulting His word and trusting His Holy Spirit.
Let this new year begin with an admission of submission followed by devotion to God’s motion. Make a resolution not to what you can do under your own power but to allow God’s strength to change and impact your life as well as the lives of others in ways that will exceed your wildest imaginings. Let this New Year commence with a resolution only He can keep and together we can all go forward determined to honor God and bring glory to His name alone.
Happy New Year!!!
Amen and Amen!
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