New Year's Resolutions

Successful New Year's Resolutions always involve two things: Passion and Accountability. You have to want to do something, and you have to have someone or something that wags a finger in your direction when you lose sight of your goal. It also helps if you can brag a little through social media . . . “Hey, look at me, I accomplished this . . .” Of course, there’s risk with going public . . .especially if you backslide. The person whose says, “Hey, I lost 30 pounds” on social media looks foolish when they gain back 50.

My mother’s mom was a Middle School teacher for 36 years. To keep her mind sharp, she resolved to do two things: She kept a daily journal of the day’s weather and important sports’ scores – like the daily Braves' score. She also worked a daily crossword puzzle. She also quit smoking. She lived to be 92. She left us with more than 500 small wire bound, steno notebooks. In early August 1998, at 87, she wrote of one day, “Hot.” The next day, she wrote, “Still very hot.” The next day, she wrote, “Hot as hell.”

While I respected and respect in memorial my grandmother's resolutions, her approach was short-sighted and not a Biblical approach to life management or what I call "life stewardship." You see, the best resolutions for us - as believers - are those that help us live longer and live better, maximizing our opportunities for sharing the gospel and making disciples. If I lose weight just for me, well, that's sinful. But, if I lose weight as part of a strategy to improve my quality of life to better serve others, well, that's using Resolutions as part of spiritual growth.

The Bible does not promote or denounce our little habit of New Year’s Resolutions. To the Lord, there’s no difference in Dec. 31 or Jan. 1. But, Scripture does promote taking care of ourselves while we are on this Earth. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 : Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to  yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body."

The No. 1 resolution every year is to lose weight or get in physical shape. The reason most people is because they do it for themselves rather than as preparation of themselves to serve others. Also, people want quick results with minimal effort. That never happens.

Since the 8th grade, when I was a chubby-cheeked teenager, I've battled a weight problem. I love to cook, I love to eat my cooking. I also love ice cream. In 2011, I went to the doctor for a routine office visit and my blood pressure was surprisingly high. So high, in fact, that my doctor put me on blood pressure medicine - a pretty high dosage. My youngest brother, whose is also overweight, has been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. In December 2013, weighing the most I've ever weighed and eye-balling another increased waist size, I bemoaned my physical condition. My oldest son said, "Dad, if you don't do anything to change, you are just going to get heavier and probably die sooner. You think that's what God wants from you?"

As a believer, I'm not afraid of death, but I am afraid of not finishing well. I want to finish this life well. So, in January 2013, I resolved to eat better and exercise daily, starting with just a 20-minute daily walk around the neighborhood. Quickly, it became something I wanted to do. I joined a gym with an accountability partner. I bought a $5 annual membership to the church gym for the days I didn't go to the more formal gym. On my walks, I learned that I could worship while walking. I listened to faith music, listened to sermons and prayed as I walked 20, 30, 40, and then 60 minutes a day.

In July, I went for my annual physical. I was a little bummed at the scale weight - I had expected to lose more weight. But, my doctor showed me the more important numbers like cholesterol and blood sugar and heart rate. All of those were the best they had been in 22 years. No kidding. My cholesterol fell through the floor. He told me what my gym partner had been telling me - don't be consumed by the scale. Be consumed by new energy and better blood / sugar numbers.

In the past two years, Vicki and I have been faced with dementia. We have walked this journey with Vicki's mama. In 2012, I was convicted about spending far too much time in front of the television and computer screens, and not enough time reading and learning. The best way to keep your body in shape is to exercise it; the best way to keep your mind in shape is to exercise. And, so, I resolved to read 25 books per year and 200 by 2019 - when I turn 60. I read at bedtime and have found no problem in reading 25 books per year.

I go to bed at 10 p.m. and I read at least one chapter or up to 30 minutes. Going to bed earlier, I've found I get up earlier - usually wake up without an alarm clock by 5:30 or 6. There's something to that "early to bed and early to rise" maxim because I do feel better all the way around. As for accountability, well, Vicki's an avid reader and we talk about the books we read.

Again, and I stress this, taking care of yourself is about being in "shape" for ministry - not to brag on Facebook, impress people at the beach, or impress the person in the mirror. In fact, Paul writes in 1 Timothy 4:8, “For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.” Godliness is the end goal of all resolutions to improve self. Anything else is likely to fail.

Closing thoughts:

• Make sure your motivation to improve self is for Kingdom service.
• Read Scripture and Pray about how God can use you.
• Don't be discouraged if you slip while on the road to improving your self. Don't use slipping as an excuse, but as motivation to get back on track.
• Expect God to use you. He will. He can. God can use you where you aren't capable of serving alone. In that, life becomes a real adventure!

Planning: From here to there

Vicki and I have been slowly remodeling a few rooms in our home. Remodeling to us is pretty self-contained: (a) Clean and throw away; (b) Strip old wallpaper and paint; (c) Rethink what’s on the walls; and (d) Update some furniture. (When one corner of the sofa is propped up by three books, it’s time for a new one.)

At one point in this multi-phase, multi-year remodeling plan, Vicki came across a box of old stuff. From this box, she placed three items on my desk. One was an old program from a black-tie event we attended during our engagement. One was the program for the 1983 Sugar Bowl, which we attended in New Orleans. The third was a multi-page love letter that I wrote her in 1983 – a little over a year after we had started dating. For our 20^th wedding Anniversary, we put together a scrapbook that includes letters I wrote her during our five years of long-distance dating. The scrapbook also includes cards we exchanged, and some black and white pictures from our first Valentine’s Day together. The letter before me was one that needed to be in the scrapbook, and that’s why she put it on my desk. As I read it, thinking back to the 24-year-old boy who wrote it, I had to pause, laugh and even flinch at some of the words before me.

It was encouraging to read, in my own words, a reminder to Vicki that I had prayed for her before I even knew her. It was encouraging to read my reminder that she was an answered prayer. I had been through a lot, even at 24, and knew that God was in control of my life. There had already been too many answered prayers and too many moments when God reminded me of his presence. I can take you to the exact location – the exact spot – where I got on my knees in that bathroom apartment, acknowledged that God knew who she was while I didn’t, and asked him to go ahead and send her to me. It was only a few weeks later that we met. Reading those words from the past, I was reminded at how faithful God is to each of us. In Jeremiah 29:11, God reminds his people: “For I know the plans I have for you. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. I will be found by you.”

God knows. God knows what? God knows everything.

What confidence we can take in those words from Jeremiah. As followers of Jesus, we are minded that God is with us and He is already in our future. He knows our future and we can have hope in it. God says His plans are good and not for disaster. That doesn’t mean we will be spared pain, suffering and hardship, but it does mean that our lives will be with Him, and He will see us through this life to a glorious conclusion with Him.

And, God reminds us that when we pray wholeheartedly (earnestly), He will listen and we will find him. This is not a casual, reckless, ADHD approach to prayer. Praying earnestly means a focused, intense, purging of self and crying out to the Lord. My prayer for Vicki was like that. In fact, I’ve had times when my prayer posture was simply flat on the floor heaving my life out to the Lord. When you do that – when you get to that place, friends – you will literally feel the power and peace of Almighty God. You will never question or doubt again His love for you and the peace that comes from a relationship with Him through Jesus Christ.

But, also within that letter were words that made me flinch. While acknowledging God’s sending of Vicki to me, I quickly defaulted to my plans for us. In several paragraphs, I spelled out my plans for us related to all things of the Earth. I spelled out that we would do this and do that, have this and have that, and go here and go there. And, not one time did I place those plans at the feet of my Lord and say, “but, all things according to your will for us.” And, that’s the problem with planning. We go to God with the big stuff, and then we default to our plans for the day-to-day stuff. James 4:13 reminds us, “Look here, you people who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business and make a profit – How do you know what will happen tomorrow? For your life is like the morning fog – it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. What you ought to say is, ‘if the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.’ Otherwise, you will be boasting about your own plans, and all such boasting is evil.”

Is it wrong to plan? No. But, we must square our plans with God’s plans for us. That means we should be praying for our tomorrow in keeping with God’s place in tomorrow. We should surrender our tomorrow to the God who is already there on our behalf. And, we can’t boast about our plans because that’s equivalent of saying, “I am in charge of my life, not the Lord.” And, Scripture says we can’t follow two masters – we will either follow self or we will follow God. (Matthew 6:24)

Here’s some other Scripture for you:

Proverbs 19:21 – Many are the plans in a man’s heart but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.
Proverbs 27:1 – Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth.
Job 17:11 – My days have passed, my plans are shattered, and so are the desires of my heart.

In Luke 12:13-21 – Jesus tells the parable of the rich fool – “a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God.”

So, what are we to do?

1. When God says in Jeremiah 1:5 that he knew you and me before we were born, and He says He has plans for you – what are those plans? Go to the Lord and earnestly ask Him. Just cry out to the Lord, ‘Help me, I’m tired. I need a new direction. I need to be a better spouse, parent, child, sibling, friend. I can no longer do this or that on my own. I must have you.” Lay it out there.

2. How do I know I am doing what God wants me to do? First, get past the notion that God’s plan for you is tied to your career in some way. Certainly, God’s plans for you may involve your gifts and strengths and passions related to work, but ultimately God’s plans for you will involve the sacrificial love and service toward others in the name of Jesus. You may need to change careers. You may even need to move to another place. But, God’s calling will not involve chaos and confusion – ultimately, you will be at peace with it.

3. How do I discover God’s plan for me? Pray earnestly, and listen to the encouragement of other believers. I believe that one of the ways God speaks to us is through other believers. Are you surrounding yourself with them? Are you allowing Satan to weed you out from the fellowship of believers, living alone and without that encouragement?