As brittle pine needles begin to fall to the ground below the Christmas tree and 2017 nears its expiration date, there is a pressure to seek out newness and embrace personal change. The new calendar entices us much like a blank canvas stirs the mind of an artist. We see it as a chance to create and live differently.

Of course, the tweaks to our lifestyle that we were so gung-ho about in the latter stages of December seem to quickly fizzle out around the time Martin Luther King Jr. Day rolls around in late January. While this isn’t always the case, it is well documented that your local gym will probably be teeming with novice attendees this week, only to be back to normal in mere days.

Exercise certainly isn’t the only thing that people choose to renew a commitment towards in a new year. Budgeting, eating/sleeping habits, and time on social media are just a couple of things that are contemplated prior to the ball dropping in Times Square. While these goals and many others are great to strive for, there seems to be something missing.

Let’s say you’ve been making resolutions each year and are actually sticking to them. If you resolved like the rest of the U.S. population, you have become a chiseled, debt-free, non-smoker who frequently does “exciting things” and generally kicks butt at life. So, what now?

It seems to me that our deepest desires are expressed through these aspirations disguised as simple “resolutions.” They are much more. While our souls cry out for something new and something better, all we can come up with is a sit-up routine and a plan to not eat as many donuts next year.

It’s not that we shouldn’t make resolutions, but we should see them for what they really are. Let’s stop kidding ourselves and see that no matter the new experience, activity, or responsibility, those resolutions can’t give us what we really need. A good thing is still a good thing, but we must realize that it isn’t everything.

The frailty of our resolutions and the constant need for something new we sense in our lives point to a deeper reality. We’ve been created with specific needs in mind. When those needs aren’t met, we begin a series of trials seeking answers about where those needs might be found.

As we consume a wide gamut of things attempting to quench that thirst, all we end up with are more questions and a throbbing heart. The things on the horizon we once looked to with great anticipation come and go with a bigger letdown each time. We need more.

When those needs are met, we become free. We no longer must set resolutions to satisfy ourselves, for we’ve already been satisfied. We’re free to strive to do our best, knowing we already have all we need.

The Bible talks great lengths about the need we have as God’s creation. Things were originally perfect, as an intimate union between God and his creation was instantly established with the inception of mankind. Shortly after, that creation, Adam and Eve, broke their relationship with God by disobeying his only command. That’s when the heartache for more that each human experiences in some fashion originated. This is our biggest need, to be reunited with our creator and our sins forgiven.

The only way for that to happen was for God to act. That’s just what he did. He sent Jesus, who being God and man, came down from his perfect dwelling in Heaven to our broken, miserable world. A world that has been on a steady decline since that fateful day in the Garden of Eden. Jesus, who was without sin, was crucified for the sins of everyone to ever walk this earth. It was the most unjust death to ever occur, yet it pleased God to crush his Son, that we might be forgiven and reunited with Him. He chose to give us our greatest need, when he didn’t have to. He chose to deal with the sin that separates us from him, through Jesus Christ.

While trimming some extra fat and paying off your student loans are good goals to have, the end goal must be examined. With thoughtful consideration, I’m sure you’ll see that a bunch of good things don’t amount to the cravings of the deepest stretches of your soul.

Just like you don’t need to wait for a change of date to alter your life, you don’t need to wait for different circumstances or a fresh start to receive Jesus. You can come as you are and ask that He might enter your heart and forgive you of your sins. He will give you the ultimate fresh start, a real relationship with him. That is something no resolution can deliver.

 

The following scripture was referenced throughout the blog. Check these wonderful truths out for yourself!

Genesis 1:26-31 – Perfection and relationship with God from the start.

Genesis 2:17 – Don’t eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Genesis 3: 14-19 – The cost of our broken relationship with God.

Philippians 2:6-11 – Jesus’ journey to earth and his work here.

Isaiah 35:4 – God will send a messiah, or savior, to “come and save you.”

John 1:29 – Jesus is the lamb of God, the messiah.

John 8:36 – Freed by Jesus.