Resolution: January 3, 2011

TODAYS WORD FOR MONDAY JANUARY 3, 2011

RESOLUTION

DEFINITION:

A formal statement of intention and determination upon a course of action.

SCRIPTURE:

Commit your way to the Lord, trust in Him. Psalm 37:5

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

Now that the hustle and bustle of Christmas is past and we have a whole new year before us, we tend to reflect back on what we did or didn’t accomplish in the past year. People begin talking about their New Year’s resolutions.

We all desire to improve ourselves in whatever way we can. The most common resolution made is to lose weight. We all know how quickly that resolution is usually broken. Only a small percentage of New Year’s resolutions are ever fulfilled. It would seem that most resolutions are made to be broken.

An unknown author wrote, “A New Year’s resolution is something that goes in one year and out the next.” People do usually end up making the same resolutions year after year. Resolutions made by most people are made in order to improve how they appear to others.

There are two problems with resolutions. One is that most people do not realize that it is not the outward appearance that counts. “The Lord does not look at the things that man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” I Samuel 16:7

The second problem with resolutions is that most people do not understand that resolutions cannot change us. Only God can change us. God not only looks at our heart, but He can change the desires of our heart.

As you remember in our last devotional last Friday, we challenged you to set a goal to seek a closer relationship with the Lord in 2011. As you draw near to God, He will draw near to you. (James 4:8) If you are reading God’s Word and spending time in prayer then He can work in you to change you. “For it is God who works in you both to will and to act according to His good purpose.” Philippians 2:13.

The Psalmist tells us to “commit your way to the Lord and to trust in Him.” In order to commit our way to the Lord we must submit all that we have, our life, our family, our possessions, our career, all to God’s control and direction. God can do what we can’t do. We can trust Him to work out what is best for us.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in II Timothy 1:7.

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love, and of a sound mind.

PRAYER:

As the new year begins, Lord, I want to commit to seeking a closer relationship with You by putting all that I have in Your hands. I want Your direction in my life and the life of each of my family. Help me to be faithful to pray and to study Your Word.