Encouragement
January 2, 2012 – A Solution to Resolutions
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right, persevering and steadfast spirit within me. – Psalm 51:10 AMP
What’s your New Year’s resolution? That’s a popular question that will be posed millions of times over the next week. Rolling over into a new year is a time when many of us reflect on our past and resolve to change things in our lives. For some, resolution goals are attainable, like losing ten pounds of Christmas candy weight. However, some people set goals that are so lofty that they often lead to defeat. Making such lofty resolutions even takes place within the ranks of Christians.
Many Christians I have met over the years have gone completely overboard in their New Year’s resolutions and lost sight of them before they were even able to get started. These resolutions include statements like “this year I will really serve God and He will take hold of me” or “this will be the year that God will help me become the perfect father” or even “this year God will double my salary and we can get closer to being debt free.” The problem is that most of the time believers make such statements do nothing to live a different life so that their resolution can come to pass. They simply think that one night they will try to go to sleep and end up wrestling with God like Jacob did (Genesis 32). Sure, I will admit that anything is possible, but I seriously doubt that any Christian making such an outlandish resolution would hold onto their faith if they had to endure all Jacob did for twenty years at the hands of Laban, his own father-in-law.
As for me, I have been the Christian who has made resolutions in the past that sounded good. One of my favorites was to resolve to be a better husband and father. That sounds godly, doesn’t it? But here’s the catch: I already thought I was the perfect husband and father, so my resolutions were just idle words spoken (Matthew 12:36). Thank God for repentance!
The circumstances involving the writing if the Fifty-First Psalm are in print for all to see. David had been confronted by Nathan the prophet for his adultery with Bathsheba and consequent murder of her husband, Uriah. He needed his right spirit renewed. And he needed God to create a clean heart in him. That’s what all Christians need in not just making resolutions, but in every part of their life: a clean heart. But it takes God to do it. I have met people in my life, who say they believe in God, but they say when they get their life straight then they will attend church. My response to them has always been the same: those people at church are anything but perfect, so don’t let that perception hold you back. Too often believers think they can get their heart pure alone or that they will magically wake up one day and have one. Either line of thinking is wrong and requires more on the part of the believer than solitary confinement or passivity.
First and foremost, for God to create a clean heart in you requires willingness. God gives us all a free will. He allows us to make choices for everything in our lives from what to have for dinner to whether or not to have a relationship with Him. In all things you are allowed the freedom to choose. So you can ask God to create a clean heart in you, but until you are completely willing to let Him do it don’t expect it. He just doesn’t work that way.
Secondly, there is an effort that you should put forth to have a clean heart. It doesn’t mean you have to buy a new Bible and become a greeter at church. It does mean putting anything away in your life that would lead you further away from Him. There may be people that you have to get out of your life. There may be places you have to stop going. There may even be professed Christians you need to stop associating with. You may even need to change churches. All these things are choices you must make, but if they in turn draw you closer to God, then He will be able to create that clean heart in you.
While all the things I mentioned are outside your body, they can have an impact on your heart. I have associated myself with professed Christians over the years and in turn had my walk with God adversely affected. Yes, the choice was mine, and I paid the price of moving further away from God. I needed a clean heart. But God has since created a clean heart in me, and I will do all I can to make sure it stays clean. I can live out a godly example to others, but I will not ever put myself into a situation of befriending the ungodly ever again, whether they say they are Christians or not (1 Corinthians 15:33).
So, have you made a New Year’s resolution? Is your heart clean so you can fulfill it? Very often Christians make resolutions to do godly things, but being able to carry them out requires a persevering spirit. Ask God to renew that steadfast spirit you have had for everything except God. Only when you make that commitment and wholeheartedly follow Him will He be able to create a clean heart in you. After that anything in life, including a New Year’s resolution will have an easy solution.
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