Resolved or decided?

Today is the day that many are making their resolutions for the new year; they are setting goals. A resolution is a “formal expression of opinion or intention” and a goal is “the result or achievement toward which effort is directed.” (Definitions are from dictionary.com.) How long will that intention or effort last? How long did it endure last year?

 

 

I decided that there will not be any resolutions this year. Instead, I am going to make decisions.

 For me, it’s not about the lofty goals for the next year; it is about the daily decisions that must be made to make those intentions or achievements a reality. I have learned this year that the most important action I can take is not to look way ahead to where I think I want to be but to simply take the next step in following the path the Lord has put front of me.

Planning a path is futile if a step is never taken to move along the path.

 

I know the priorities that God has placed on my heart for this next year,

and I know that the changes required will not be easy in human terms but that

“I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13, NASB).

Knowing that, I am able to make the following decision:

 

“Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do:

forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward

 

 

to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal

 

 

for the prize

 

 

of the upward call

 

 

of God in Christ Jesus.”—Philippians 3:13-14, NASB

 

 

This past year was one of huge changes and it has not been an easy path to walk. Those changes have truly taught me that when you can’t see what is ahead, you just stay on the current path until God changes your direction. Since I don’t know what this new year will hold, I have decided to put one foot in front of the other as I move along the path of learning how to share with others what the Lord has blessed me with—

 

 

Prayers for a year of blessing and grace in 2014!