Did you make a New Year’s resolution this year? So many of us do, but did you know that only 20% of those who do say they keep themselves accountable to sticking to their goals?
If 80% of you know when you make resolutions you aren’t going to keep them – you don’t have the will power, or strength or stamina to keep them – why do you make them?
I think we do because we want the new year to be different – dare I say better than the last year! But maybe, just maybe God has a better plan for you. When you seek him, listen for him and to him, and step out in obedience, he will guide you according to his plan. And I promise you, his plan is a better plan!
In the 2nd chapter of his gospel, Matthew gives the account of the Magi leaving their homeland when they saw a unique star in the sky to worship “He who has been born King of the Jews.” They didn’t rest until the found him – Jesus – with his mother at the house they were living in in Bethlehem. King Herod had told them, “….Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him,” (Matthew 2:8) when in all actuality he wanted to kill the infant Jesus because he saw him as a threat. But when the Magi were warned in a dream to return to their country by a different route (Matthew 2:12), they obeyed and didn’t go back to Herod. You see, when you don’t rest until you find Jesus, when you seek Him with all you’ve got each and every day, God sometimes asks you to take a different route, and it is always a better route!
Are you willing to take a different route – to step out in faith – when you hear from God?
What is your different route? Doing hard things? Doing unexpected things? Giving up something that you really want to hang on to? Giving up control?
As you look forward to 2024, are you going to put your confidence in a resolution or three that only 20% of you are going to hold yourself accountable to, or are you going to put your confidence in God, who is loyal and true, keeping his promises by seeking him with all you’ve got, and responding to Him with obedience when you hear from him to take a different, better route?
When we make Jesus the king of our lives, sometimes we have to step out in faith. Sometimes we have to do things that frighten us. Sometimes we have to love people who are difficult to love. Sometimes we have to change our priorities. Following the star — following the King whom the star represents — may mean traveling far from home and comfort, and it may mean taking a different route if God tells you to. When you do, he will change your life!
The writer is the discipleship pastor at Connection Point Church of God, Sidney.
