Looking Backward -- and Looking Ahead

Today marks the beginning of the second half of the year. Just another six months remain of 2013. Seems like it's a good time to take stock of where we are now. For me, the new year represented a chance to recommit my life in service to God.

So how have I done in that pursuit? Have I made the effort to walk closer with Him, or have I merely paid lip service to the idea of serving Christ more? Like, I think, many of us, I fear I have to admit there were plenty of days in which I simply wasn't deliberate about acting out my faith. Days when, given the choice between finding ways to serve or doing nothing at all, I chose the couch over the mission field.

Make no mistake: serving God is a choice we make -- and it's a choice we make daily. Eventually -- maybe sooner than we think -- we will be called to account for the gifts we've been given. Like the three servants (Matthew 25:14-30), we will be asked what we did with the Talents -- the time, resources, and skills -- we were given. Did we hide what we had in a hole? Did we make a minimum investment? Or did we take the step of faith in the God who gave us those resources, and use them to further His kingdom?

When my wife sold Mary Kay cosmetics, I remember she had a couple of inspirational pictures she would look at. Goals, more or less. Things that would help her mark success as a Mary Kay consultant. The pink Cadillac SUV was one. This is a fairly common practice among those who work to achieve a goal: find a way to visualize that goal, and keep it in front of you, as a way to inspire success.

Paul suggests similar inspiration in Philippians 3: "I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. (vs 14)."

Paul's words to Timothy are my Pink Cadillac.  When I don't want to go on... when I'd rather sit in front of the TV than serve my community and my God... I have in front of me the example of Paul. He had plenty of trouble -- certainly more trouble than mere apathy -- yet, he chose daily to serve his God in such a way that, when he knew his time was coming to an end, he could look back without regret. He could look on the life he lived, and know that, when it came down to it, he had spent his life in service to God and His church.

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing. (2 Timothy 4:7-8)

Ditch Your Resolution - Or Let God Give You Resolve?

Today is Ditch Your Resolution Day. If you made a New Year's Resolution, it's officially time to evaluate yourself on how you're doing and then... simply make the decision to keep ignoring it.

Now, I admit, I'm really not a "resolution" guy, for exactly that reason. I don't keep them. Maybe I'm lazy, or just unmotivated. Or maybe my resolution simply doesn't get to the real heart of whatever the problem is I'm trying to change.

Nevertheless, when we make that crucial decision to turn our lives over to Christ, we do so with the expectation that we will, actually, turn over our lives. This doesn't mean an overnight change. We don't kneel in prayer and rise Super Christian. Rather, the change is a process: God shows us things in our lives He wants us to strengthen, add, or remove in order to live better, fuller lives more worthy of His name (Romans 12:2 says, "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God").

But it isn't just a list He gives us, a collection of New Man resolutions. He doesn't simply ask you to change your life and then wait for you to do it.

Philippians 4:13 reminds us, "I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me."

God doesn't expect us to walk this world alone, yet when we decide to better ourselves -- be it a resolution to lose weight, or quit smoking, or get organized, we most often try to go it alone. And fail.

But 1 Corinthians 10:31 reminds us, "whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God."

So, if we're working to better ourselves to be better ambassadors for Christ, we can rest assured He will bless our efforts, if we ask only ask him.

Rather than ditch your resolutions, why not ask God to strengthen your resolve?