But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. (Matt 6:33-34)
Resolutions are a declaration of how much I want to control the year's conditions regarding myself. Therefore, I think I would like to pray first.
I could make such a list of New Year's resolutions that the accomplishing of them would surely put me in paragon status. The problem with that is that I am no paragon and will not become one simply by a wishful list of resolutions. Praying first leads me to reject resolutions as an attempt by me to control my development. I committed my life to Jesus some years ago. An attempt to wrest control back from my Lord seems rather unwise and perhaps even disobedient.
Worry over the things of this world leads me to make resolutions for a change. Never mind that years of resolutions at the beginning of each year have produced zero lasting change, I want to have that control back! Ah, but the Spirit reminds me that I was not meant to accomplish any lasting change to myself on my own. How could such fallen imperfection ever produce perfection in the first place? Rather, at the urging of my Lord's dear Spirit, I will seek Him in prayer first. His righteousness and His kingdom are my aims for this coming year. Tomorrow is a worry I don't need; today's trouble is sufficient for me.
It is a great relief to let go of the burden of becoming Super Christian; that false paragon selfishly tried to spend all his time working on his own image!
In the new year of our Lord Jesus, 2017Bucky
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