A New Year’s Resolution That Honors God
philippians 3:12-14

We are now approaching the completion of another year – a year composed of 12 months, 52 weeks, 365 days, 8,760 hours, 525,600 minutes and 31,536,000 seconds. For many of you, 2010 will be a year full of hope and promise, anticipation and expectation.

On January 1st, we throw off the old, tired, worn-out, unrealized dreams, and start looking toward our new goals. It is the day when many people make New Year’s resolutions. It is a day in which many will vow to do more of this and less of that—even though it sometimes ends with nothing accomplished.

Excuses for not accomplishing those tasks include the boss, the spouse, and a million other reasons, including not having enough time. Believe it or not, if you have managed to live to see this day, you have had the same amount of time as the next person. If you have not had enough time to complete the task you began, it is not because you have received less time than the next person.

It is very easy to weep over failures, disappointments, and goals not achieved—goals such as that job we didn’t receive, and the time we were going to spend with our family that didn’t quite pan out. We probably should have done those things, but the reality is, it is too late to do them in 2009!

Paul’s life had been tainted by persecution of the church and time wasted trying to stop the work of Jesus Christ. However, he realized none of the past could be changed. He considered his accomplishments as a Hebrew, his knowledge of the law, and even his circumcision on the eighth day, which was very important to the Jewish people. All were noteworthy. But Paul realized, whether his activities were considered good or bad, that was yesterday. Today is a new day!

Paul said, “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended.” In other words, Paul is saying, “I don’t feel like I’ve arrived yet. Forgetting those things behind me, I press on!” Our preliminary activity is to forget what is behind us! (v. 13) There will always be lessons we can learn from our experiences. However, Paul is talking about forgetting in such a way that the past—good or bad—will have no negative bearing on one’s present spiritual growth and condition.

This means we must:
1. Forget the wrongs which could paralyze us with guilt and despair.
2. Forget the successes which might cause us to pull into “neutral.”

Sometimes our successes can make us satisfied with where we are. Like Paul, we ought to always remember we all still have a long way to go if we want to honor the Lord with our lives!

Many of us are like Charlie Brown. In a Peanuts comic strip, he is speaking to Lucy as she sits on a deck chair. She says, “From this chair I see all the possibilities of life, the accomplishments and the successes.”

Poor Charlie Brown fumbles with his chair and mutters as he looks at Lucy, “I can’t even get mine open!”

Some of you are still struggling to get your deck chair open! Rather than worry about what you have not done, resolve today that in 2010, you are going to PRESS ON!

Paul realized all of his accomplishments would fall short if his ultimate goal was not towards the high calling of Christ. The Scriptures are very clear in 1 Corinthians 10:31, “Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” If you include Christ in everything you do, your life will not be in vain!

Each year, there are millions of resolutions made by as many people. All are made in good faith with every good intention. Most of them, however, are broken by the middle of January. Out of ten people who make New Year’s resolutions, eight won’t keep them for more than a month. Maybe your failure to keep past resolutions makes you cynical or skeptical about making any for 2010. I’ve even heard people say, “Well, no one keeps New Year’s resolutions anyway, so I don’t make them.” Nevertheless, we all should be striving to improve our relationship with the Lord!

After engaging in the preliminary activity, let’s move on to the second method which will help us make lasting resolutions. This method requires that we implement a plan. Paul said in verse 13, “. . . straining toward what is ahead.” Straining refers to continuous concentration, like that of a runner in a race whose ceaseless personal exertion and intensity of desire help him achieve the hoped-for victory.

When you see a runner in stride, often his body is bent over, his fists are clenched beside his body to balance each stride, his eyes are fastened on the goal, and he never looks back! In other words, he must be focused and determined.

A plan of action, once developed, has to be followed with great exertion and intensity. If you want your resolution to be a reality, you’ve got to concentrate on the plan!

Tom Jones in The Lookout, (pp. 4-6) said we should set goals with the following question in mind, “Will this goal glorify God?” God wants your goals or your resolutions to bring Him glory. Some of our goals may be to:

(1) Spend more time with your children
(2) Be more faithful at church
(3) Continue your education
(4) Exercise regularly
(5) Purchase a house
(6) Get married

Now none of these goals is necessarily right or wrong. The question is, “How will they glorify God?” Your goals as a Believer ought to make you more like Jesus! The next important question is, “Will this goal make a positive contribution to the world?” Some goals are not necessarily wrong, but they’re just not all that important. If you bought a new car two years ago and the car looks and runs well, you may not necessarily need a new car next year. Wouldn’t it be better using the extra money to further the kingdom of Christ?

We need to ask, “Will this goal enhance my ability to witness?” Everything we are involved in with other people is an opportunity to witness. Do any of your goals for 2010 intentionally involve you with unchurched people so you can be a witness for Jesus Christ? I don’t know about you, but there are a lot of unsaved people on my job! How is your witness on the job?

Once you’ve made some goals or resolutions, they must be translated into activities. A lot of us set worthy goals, but then nothing happens. Try organizing your activities around these categories:

a. The goal might be your personal life.
Many of us don’t spend enough time developing our personal lives. This includes our spiritual well-being, our prayer life, our physical fitness, and emotional health!

The activity might deal with developing a willingness to grow in wisdom and knowledge.

b. The goal might be to get closer to God.
The activity might be reading a chapter of the Bible each day before work. It might include spending more time in devotions.

c. The goal might be your family.
Obviously our goals and activities have to include our families. The Bible warns us not to neglect them.

The activity might be spending more time with your children or your spouse.

 d. The goal might be to bring more people to your church.
We should always remember: When we don’t include church in our plans, we get out of balance. We can’t be all God wants us to be without being involved in the family of God.

The activity might be working with a ministry team on a regular basis, inviting more friends to church, and even going out witnessing.

e. Harmonize your schedule with your goals.
If you don’t schedule the important things in your life, you won’t do them. If you don’t schedule the time, it simply won’t happen!

Maybe you have a goal of becoming a better musician, which translates into an hour of practice every other day. If you don’t schedule it, you know what will happen—NOTHING! And that’s the very reason why so many of our resolutions don’t stick. We don’t have a plan we stick to. We never make these things appointments which cannot be compromised.

Paul strained toward his goal. We have to do the same with our resolutions. The cartoon character Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes once said, “God put me on this earth to accomplish a certain number of things. Right now, I’m so far behind I’ll never die.”  Unless the Lord should return soon, we will all die! But while we are alive, let us remember to live to the Glory of our Lord! Don’t miss the wonderful plans that He has for your life! Pray about those things you are considering to make priorities in your life. And then be like Nike—Just Do It!

In John 4:34, Jesus said, “My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.” This was His resolution. It was one which led to Calvary’s cross. But along the way, hungry folks were fed! Along the way, the blind received their sight, lepers were cleansed, and the crippled took up their beds and walked! What do you suppose will happen if you make His will a part of your New Year’s resolution?