Alright everyone, how many of you have already made your New Year's Resolutions that you know you will not be keeping? HaHa...I know right. This is a time in which we always seem to stress some sort of renewal in how we live our lives. Most of the time they deal with losing weight, exercising more, reading more books, or managing our money better. Maybe others set goals for their work and school. But, no matter how hard we try in the beginning, we usually fail. And you know what, that's ok. We are human.
Is it not great to know that we have a Savior who looks beyond our imperfections if we truly belong to Him? Even with all the things we try to do, we will still fall short of the glory of God. But, the true message of Grace covers a multitude of failures. The bible is full of individuals who strived to serve God to their best ability, and yet had their own shortcomings. David's lust, Peter's denial, Abraham's lies, and Moses' inability to follow directions are just a few examples of true powerhouses for God, that were still human and made their mistakes.
There seems to be a misconception among some that Christians can reach a point to which they no longer sin. I have had discussions with many of these individuals and still fall back to this verse:
Romans 3:10
"as it is written, there is none righteous, not even one."
and...
1 John 1:8
"If we say we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us."
So what do we do? Do we just give up because we will mess up? Absolutely not! Our purpose in life is to serve God, and to try to be Christ-like as much as possible. We still must push forward to the prize that is before us. This life is short compared to the eternity that we have before us, and the reward in heaven is great. We have a job to do, and even though we will make mistakes, we must continue on in our witness of Christ to the world. If we sit back and do nothing, think of all the opportunities we will have to share Christ that will never happen.
So.....what does all of this have to do with the new year you ask? How about a New Year's resolution that focuses on something you are going to try to do for God, instead of yourself.
Psalm 98:1
"O sing to the LORD a new song, for He has done wonderful things, His right hand and His holy arm have gained the victory for Him."
I challenge all of you to come up with a new year's resolution for the Lord. Even if we fail, He will still win the victory. It can do nothing but strengthen us and our witness for Him, and bring honor and glory to Him. And not because we are anything great, but because who we serve is!
Thanks for reading, and I pray God's blessings on you all in 2015!
