Jan 1, 2012
All the New Year’s Resolutions You Need
1-2-12
Another year, another celebration, another “back to work.” Yet if we can remind ourselves each morning that “this is the day that the Lord has made,” we can take a fresh look at 2012 and declare, “This is the year that the Lord has made!”
Let us be glad and rejoice in it!
The Year of the Lord Two Thousand Twelve. Are there challenges that loom up to the left and right? It Dozen matter! And are you one of the folks who make resolutions every New Year? If rules are made to be broken, many of our resolutions seem made to be… postponed.
Well, not surprisingly, the Bible provides all the Resolutions we need to face the new year, day by day:
1 I am the Lord your God… You shall have no other gods before Me.
2 You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything… For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God….
3 You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.
4 Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
5 Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.
6 You shall not murder.
7 You shall not commit adultery.
8 You shall not steal.
9 You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
10 You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife… nor anything that is your neighbor’s. (Exodus 20:2-17 NKJV)
Most of us have problems with long lists. Jesus knew this, and whether He was announcing the cancellation of the Law – since He was its fulfillment – or wisely providing us with spiritual Cliff’s Notes, the better for us to obey and practice, He gave us two Resolutions we can adopt:
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. (Matthew 22:37-40)
Two for Twelve. Happy New Year!
+ + +
And to the extent we are able to follow these commandments, keep these resolutions, we must remember that obedience is due to God. Commandments are more for our well-being than for God’s dispensation of gold stars. It is His grace, not our works, that bring favor in His sight. His Amazing Grace. Whenever you need an emotional nudge as a reminder, watch this video – a large orchestra, starting with a pennywhistle, a violin, a bagpipe, then hundreds of bagpipes performing before tens of thousands of worshipers in Berlin. Andre Rieu at a nighttime outdoor concert.
Click: Amazing Grace
Very true rick..have a blessed and excellent New Year
Rick, I love this perspective! Narrow down all those resolutions to TWO! My immediate thought after reading this? I can DO this!
Ah, refreshing resolutions for 2012! Thank you for the reminder of how simple–though not necessarily easy–God made it for us. I’ve had another OT Scripture on my mind for this new year: “He hath shown thee, O man, what is good, and what hath the Lord required of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God.” (Micah 6:8) Love the reminder that we’re not performing for gold stars. Love this version of “Amazing Grace,” esp. the sparklers and the couple embracing at the end. Thank you!
Simple vs Easy — great point of distinction to note. The verse you cite from Micha, by the way, was the favorite Bible verse of Theodore Roosevelt.