As the New Year arrived, I began thinking about my New Year’s Resolution.  I usually tell a few people my resolution, think about it for a couple days, and then if I may admit, usually do not follow through with it as I intended to.  As I thought about resolutions, I remembered some of mine over the past couple years.  These are a few of them: To relax and be more easy going, To eat smaller portions when eating meals, To read more books, To read the whole Bible in a year, and probably some more that I probably will not do.  I wanted to know what my friend’s New Year’s Resolutions were this year and this is what I found out.  Many of them said, “to eat less salt in my diet”, “to work out on a regular basis”, “To run more often”, or “to get a better job”.  Although these are all great resolutions, I did not want to make one relating to dieting or exercising, or one that I wouldn’t think about more than this first week in January.  

I began to think about my new resolution. The definition of resolution is:  ‘a resolve or determination’ or ‘the act of resolving or determining upon an action or course of action, method, procedure, etc.’ I thought about how I could resolve upon determining an action for the whole year?  How can I do something that means more to me and others than just eating less salt in my diet?

Then I began to think about some of the things we have been talking about in my Bible Study at church.   What resolutions would Jesus want me to have as a Christian in His church?  What does God call me to do every year, every day of my life?  Well, I found my answer in the Old Testament as I read about God’s word to his people Israel.  God called his people Israel in the book of Leviticus to be a Holy people who obeyed his commandments.  He demanded obedience and holiness from his people because God’s Holiness requires a Holy People.  As I learn more about the Levites and Aaron’s family of priesthood, it astonished me that they were required to be Holy because they entered into God’s presence and offered the many sacrifices for God’s people.  As for me, I cannot come into God’s presence until I am seen as clean as snow and blameless before Him.  Jesus, my high priest made that one offering for me so I can serve God and come before Him. 

So, instead of coming into this year by giving something to me and making a resolution that is meaningless, I thought about how grateful I am to my Lord for the Gift of Jesus.  I want to live a holy life of obedience to Him not just because God calls me to do so, but also because of my Thankfulness to Him.  Let us also teach our children that these are the things we ‘resolve’ to do for the Lord, not because of ourselves, but because of the Holy Spirit working in our hearts.  Let us not follow the world with worldly, meaningless resolutions but with ones that glorify our Lord!