"Hope springs eternal," said the ancient poet. "This is the first day of the rest of your life," says the modern hopeful one. And nothing spurs most of us to renewed hope more than starting the calendar over again, bidding perhaps a fond "adieu" or maybe a "good riddance" to the previous twelve months.
The practice of making resolutions to launch our efforts for a better year is a very old one, going all the way back, according to some historians, to the ancient Babylonians. A survey of popular resolutions reveals that people are ever hopeful of improving the quality of their lives, physically, financially, relationally and mentally. But what becomes of such good intentions? If resolutions could actually improve our lives, we'd do well to enforce the making of such goals among the general public, for there are many lives that need improvement, including my own!
Not that anything's wrong with aspiring to improve onesself and the world around me. But most of us have figured out by now that intentions, no matter how sincere or well expressed, are quite ineffective in making substantive change; and especially so in matters that are the product of some deep, and perhaps stubborn, inner motive or desire. As the apostle Paul long ago stated, "The wishing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not." (Romans 7:18)
So should we just give up on resolutions and other expressions of our desire to make this year better than the last? Certainly not! But maybe we should approach such improvements as we might any other task. In other words, as the saying goes, "Work smarter, not harder." No problem can be solved or reduced without understanding the problem's cause, and therefore directing our efforts to resolving or removing that cause; or at least managing it more effectively.
To truly improve our lives should always lead us to look first into the realm of the heart, and only the Word of God really provides us with an unbiased and objective view of that territory. No life can be improved to any great degree unless it is first properly centered on God Himself, as the Chief Architect of life and the main Source of power to live it.
Perhaps our first and most formative resolution, therefore, should be to seek the Lord with all our hearts, and then do our utmost, as He gives strength by His Spirit, to to act upon His will. That done, I can predict, if not always a "Happy New Year", at least an improving and more satisfying one.
The practice of making resolutions to launch our efforts for a better year is a very old one, going all the way back, according to some historians, to the ancient Babylonians. A survey of popular resolutions reveals that people are ever hopeful of improving the quality of their lives, physically, financially, relationally and mentally. But what becomes of such good intentions? If resolutions could actually improve our lives, we'd do well to enforce the making of such goals among the general public, for there are many lives that need improvement, including my own!
Not that anything's wrong with aspiring to improve onesself and the world around me. But most of us have figured out by now that intentions, no matter how sincere or well expressed, are quite ineffective in making substantive change; and especially so in matters that are the product of some deep, and perhaps stubborn, inner motive or desire. As the apostle Paul long ago stated, "The wishing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not." (Romans 7:18)
So should we just give up on resolutions and other expressions of our desire to make this year better than the last? Certainly not! But maybe we should approach such improvements as we might any other task. In other words, as the saying goes, "Work smarter, not harder." No problem can be solved or reduced without understanding the problem's cause, and therefore directing our efforts to resolving or removing that cause; or at least managing it more effectively.
To truly improve our lives should always lead us to look first into the realm of the heart, and only the Word of God really provides us with an unbiased and objective view of that territory. No life can be improved to any great degree unless it is first properly centered on God Himself, as the Chief Architect of life and the main Source of power to live it.
Perhaps our first and most formative resolution, therefore, should be to seek the Lord with all our hearts, and then do our utmost, as He gives strength by His Spirit, to to act upon His will. That done, I can predict, if not always a "Happy New Year", at least an improving and more satisfying one.
No comments:
Post a Comment