The year 2010 is rapidly approaching!  So, are you a New Year’s Resolutions person or not?  I tend to go back and forth.  I love the idea of a clean sheet of paper and a fresh start.  I am grateful for a break in the calendar that prompts me to think and pray about the things the Lord is calling me to do in the new year as well as the changes He wants to bring into my life for His glory. However, I also struggle with the frustration of setting super lofty goals only to see them edged out by the reality of the life that God has already given me.  It’s as if I forget that life is a walk and not a sprint.  The calendar changes, but how much of life really changes?  Aren’t we all simply going forward, seeking to be faithful to what God has called us to do, led by His Spirit, seeking to please Him, prioritizing our lives according to what’s important to Him found in His word?

Ours is a walk with the Lord!  Enoch walked with God (Gen. 5:22), Noah walked with God (Gen. 6:9), Abraham and Isaac walked with God (Gen. 48:15).  We are called to walk with God (Ps. 26:3, 84:11, 101:2, 116:9, 119:1).  We are a people called  to walk by the Spirit (Gal. 5:16) and keep in step with the Spirit (Gal. 5:25).   This is always such a refreshing reminder for me.  Life isn’t a series of sprints that tire us out leaving us more hopeless at our inability to keep up with self-imposed efforts to do better!  Life is a walk with the Lord, who is interested in faithful servants, not flashy servants.  So, Moses says in Psalm 90:12, “Teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.”  Isn’t this ultimately what we want as the first day of 2010 comes?  We want the grace of God!  We want His grace to help us to see our lives as important and precious.  We want His grace to help us to number our days, to think well about the time God has given us.  We need His grace to give us wisdom to walk  closely with Him, grace to be faithful to what He’s called us to (not afraid to step out into what He has called us to step out into,  and  courageous to change what He wants us to change).  Ultimately, we need and want  grace to bring more glory to Him in our lives, homes, families, jobs, relationships, and world with the time that He has given us.

For me, just like 2009,  in 2010 I want to seek the Lord with all my heart, I want to love my wife, serve my family, work hard at my job, care for my friends and reach out to my neighbors, and pray for all – filled with the Spirit and empowered by the grace of God.   And, because it is a new year, I believe God will give me and all of us new and fresh ways to do these, because His mercy is new every morning.

So, whether you are a resolutions person or not, may both New Year’s resolutions and faithful living be bound together with the grace of God in our lives  in the year to come.

Grace to you,

Eric