RESOLUTIONS FOR A NEW YEAR

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In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

I will sing of Your love and justice; to You, Lord, I will sing praise.

I will be careful to lead a blameless life — when will you come to me?

I will conduct the affairs of my house with a blameless heart.

I will not look with approval on anything that is vile.

Psalm 101:1-3

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

As we approach a new year, we often see a chance for a new beginning, putting the past year behind us and focusing on new opportunities ahead. And so we will make any number of resolutions, committing ourselves to change a part of our life in the new year. A study found that the following were the top 10 resolutions made for 2012 from number 1 to number 10:

1.   Lose weight

2.   Get organized

3.   Spend less, save more

4.   Enjoy life to the fullest

5.   Staying fit and healthy

6.   Learn something exciting

7.   Quit smoking

8.   Help others fulfill their dreams.

9.   Fall in love

10. Spend more time with family

Maybe you have already thought about what you might do differently in the coming year and perhaps your thoughts match up with something on this list. But note that there is no mention in this top 10 about improving one’s spiritual life, one’s walk with the Lord.

As I looked at the opening verses of the 101st Psalm, our latest stop in this extensive study of the Psalms, I discovered four key resolutions we could all stand to adopt as we enter 2013. They are as follows:

1. I will sing of Your love and justice; to You, Lord, I will sing praise.

In the new year, let us sing our praises and sing them to the Lord. Of course, we can do this in church but we can also do it all through the week as well. When we’re in our cars driving, we can play a Christian radio station like K-Love or others. In most cars, there are CD players where you can insert a Christian CD to listen to; in more modern cars, you can even plug your IPOD into your car stereo and listen to a Christian playlist that way. And speaking of IPODs and IPHONE’s, nearly everyone has one or the other it seems and you can always load Christian music to listen to wherever you might be. Internet radio stations like Pandora also offer great Christian music channels to stream music to your device.

There is really no shortage of options available to you to listen to music that proclaims the Lord’s love and faithfulness and goodness and grace and justice. We just need to tune into them and sing praises to the Lord, the only One truly worthy of our honor, glory, and exaltation.

2. I will be careful to lead a blameless life.

We can always stand better in this, to live our lives more in line with the Lord’s righteousness and holiness. No one is blameless because no one is perfect. Thus, everyone has room to improve and can adopt this resolution. Know and trust that the Lord is ever wanting to mold and shape us more and more into His image. We just need to submit ourselves to Him and be obedient to walk in the ways He calls us to walk.

3. I will conduct the affairs of my house with a blameless heart.

When we go after fulfilling spiritual resolution number two, then this resolution happens as an end result. Walking in obedience to the Lord’s word and way will not only have us to lead a blameless life but also conduct all our affairs in a blameless way. Our personal life attitude spreads into our work, our worship, and our relationships we develop with others. The Lord’s ways permeate every part of who we are and, in turn, we begin to reflect the Lord’s image in all we do and say and think.

4. I will not look with approval on anything that is vile.

When we live blamelessly and conduct our affairs blamelessly, we lose tolerance for the things of the world that do not. We stand firm on the word of God and the ways that Jesus taught us regarding living in righteousness, speaking out against the things of the world that would run counter to God’s expectations. We’re not to stand on the sidelines but rather openly speak out for the cause of the Lord. Jesus never hesitated to take on the establishment, especially when they were acting in ways counter to His Father’s will and word. We are to follow Christ’s lead in the way we live our lives.

So there you have it, four resolutions from the word of God that we all can adopt and strive to meet in 2013. I hope you’ll join me in doing just that as we seek to better serve our Father and His Son, our Savior, in the new year.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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