Allow us to be among the first to welcome you into this New Year. We don’t know for sure that this is the year that church will end, but we must be prepared. And the best way to do that is to be ready at all times to meet our Creator. With that in mind, what should our New Year Resolution look like? We must think outside the box and make an unusual annual resolution
We who are looking forward to our eternal home must not make ordinary resolutions this year. Of course, we must appreciate God for helping us t overcome the COVID problems in the past couple of years. And then, we must sit down and think seriously about how we want to spend this year perhaps to glorify the One who preserved us.
Will we focus on our bodies by resolving to lose ten pounds for instance? Should we focus on our face with botox or our hair with haircare? Perhaps our resolution should have been to start dressing better or spending less.
Or we can decide to focus on our spirit man and think of how to please God. We can make an unusual annual resolution this year for a change. Be different is what Romans 12-1-2 is telling us when it says “do not be conformed to the world.” And the first step in being different is to have goals and resolutions that are not like everybody else’s.
A New Garment Is An Unusual Annual Resolution
You may wonder if we are not speaking from both sides of our mouths by focusing on a garment. Not at all, as you may recollect from Jesus’ parable of the wedding feast. And the reason we want that story to serve as the basis for our resolution is quite simple. Jesus is the bridegroom of the church and there will be a wedding feast soon. You probably know that already.
In this particular parable, one of the guests did not have on the right garment. He mixed in with the crowd and looked presentable to others in the church. But since God looks on the heart, He was able to discern that the man was not righteous. You see, righteousness is the garment of saints. That is why we must make a new garment our unusual annual resolution this year. God does not consider the outside but the inside of a man.
Each of us must become righteous on the inside, where it matters most to God. Otherwise, we shall be like the fig tree, all leaves with no fruit. You may recall that Jesus cursed that tree just as God punished this hypocritical wedding guest. He bible says “The king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ “
Outer darkness means hell but none of us shall end up in hell, in Jesus’ name. However, unless we make the unusual annual resolution of righteousness, that prayer may be useless. But when we determine to be righteous and to stop being a hypocrite, we can sit at the wedding feast. God will have no need to throw us out. We can then live with Him for all eternity.
Maranatha!
