A New Year Revolution!

"The object of a New Year is not that we should have a new year. It is that we should have a new soul and a new nose; new feet, a new backbone, new ears, and new eyes... Unless a man starts afresh about things, he will certainly do nothing effective." – G. K. Chesterton

Over the next couple of days, hundreds of millions of people around the world will engage in one of the most common annual rituals on the planet: The "New Year's Resolution." I did a Google search for "New Year's Resolution" awhile back, and 980,370 sites popped up! That's a lot of "resoluting" going on out there every year!

Personally? I don't like New Year's resolutions. I've never done them, and if I had, I never would have kept any of them.

I looked up resolution in the dictionary, and it said, "Determination with firmness and intention to change what I'm going to do." Theoretically and theologically, I actually have a problem with that.

Think about it! A resolution is supposed to change you by changing your behavior. That is actually backwards from the New Testament which reveals that your behavior is changed by an awareness of this fact: Christ has ushered in a dynamic revolution that transforms you from the inside out.

Revolution, on the other hand, is defined as "a radical change in constitution... to change completely." But the traditional pattern this time of year is to make resolutions, rather than allow revolutions. Paul had something to say about that:

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. – Romans 12:2

Over the next two weeks I am going to take you through Proverbs 30, which contains nine radical revolutionary statements. If taken seriously, they can be used by the Spirit to completely change who you are as a person. These are specific transformations that are caused by the revolution Christ has begun in your heart.

May you start this new year not with temporary resolutions that are bound to fail, but by committing to the eternal revolution that Christ is bringing about in your heart!

Holy Spirit, please take the powerful, unchanging truths of Scripture and make them alive in fresh new ways each day of this coming year. Amen.