Tag: New Year resolutions

Day and Night

Old Testament: Genesis 1

*Poetry: Psalm 1

New Testament: Matthew 1


I am proud to say that I rang in 2024 without a resolution. In fact, I have been resolution-less for the last three years. In a manner of speaking, I have completely given up on goals and I have no innate desire to make my dreams come true. It all sounds a bit melancholy, but follow me for a moment as I explain this change in mindset.  A few years ago, I stumbled across How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big by Scott Adams, the author of the Dilbert comic strip.  In this book, Adams makes the case priorities and their processes have a much greater impact on success versus goal-driven behaviors.  I am not anti-goal or resolution, but when we resolve to make a checklist of accomplishment, no matter how big or small, that is a momentary celebration followed by a lingering aftertaste of, “Now what?”  

“Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take  or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers.” – Psalm 1:1-3

Psalm 1 presents the idea that Delighting in God and meditating on His words are not quantifiable checklist items that earn badges or streaks.  These are the priorities that help develop processes, such as a daily visit to the Seek Grow Love blog, to help us live a more fulfilled life, whether it is star-studded or filled with very few accolades. Day and night, it becomes the rhythm to which we live our lives, alongside the very beating of our heart.  The only reprieve is a temporary status of death.  Any merit or notoriety we hope to achieve as Christians, such as sitting at the right hand of Jesus (Matt 20), is legalistic hoo-ha, and ironically, resolutions that may keep us away from the pursuit of the Kingdom of God.

So what do processes look like that prioritize God, let His word speak, and lead to Living Water throughout 2024 and beyond? One example we have is the contrast of Mary and Martha in Luke 10. We must choose Jesus over the mundane daily grind. This means that when Jesus is speaking the words of God at your house, you stop what you are doing to sit down and listen. There will always be a nagging chore, entertainment, and distractions, but more than Martha, we have an opportunity to invite Jesus every single day into our home.  Don’t be in the next room working, literally or metaphorically, missing this opportunity. 

Another example might be more related to the execution.  As a parent to a couple of toddlers, I have  wryly pondered the question posed by Peter,  “How many times should I forgive brothers (or in my case, children) when they sin against me?”  The answer supplied by Jesus is 490, a number we have well-passed for the same offenses in my house. I think we all understand that this is not a literal number but a commitment to prioritizing love for others over indulgences of self.  Some of us may be asked to forgive more than others, whether in accumulation of trespasses or a single terrible, unspeakable offense, planting ourselves by the banks of Living Water is the way we have access to the infinite, inexhaustible grace of God and still find delight in the hardest of pills to swallow.

Trust the process of prioritizing and meditating on God’s word.  Find less resolution and rid yourself of the rote. Worry less about what you need to accomplish and look for opportunities, day and night, to spend time delighting in the Lord, who is watching over our way. This year, begin to leave the accolades to Him.

“For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.” – Psalm 1:6

-Aaron Winner

Reflection Questions

  1. What benefits do you see in living more of a priorities and processes life than a goals and resolutions life? 
  2. What are your priorities? What processes do you already do to keep your top priorities top? What tweaks or refinements could be helpful in keeping first things first? 
  3. What does it look like to Delight in the Lord? How does one meditate on His law day and night? What does the life look like that does these things? What does the life look like that doesn’t do these things? Where are you? Where do you want to be? How can you get there?
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New Year’s Resolutions

Luke 19_3a

Luke 19:1-10

As we are entering into the third full week of January I want to think about how you have begun your new year. Did you make any resolutions? Why or why not? Have you already broken your resolutions? If so, what made you let them go so soon? If not how are you staying true to your goal?

This week I am going to talk about some common New Year’s resolutions amongst Christians, their biblical founding and some strategies to help us keep these resolutions. My hope for you this week is that you take a moment to evaluate where your relationship with God is, where you would like it to go and how you are going to get there. If you did not make any resolutions or goals for 2018, that is okay, but maybe after reading this you will consider refocusing certain things in your life.

Some of the most common New Year’s resolutions in general are people wanting to be healthier, people wanting to save more of their money, getting better grades, maybe even trying to get a new and better job. These are all good, but so many people lose sight of their goals within the first 3 months of the new year, for a multitude of reasons. They made their “rules” too drastic, or they did not make their goal focused enough, or they did not have any accountability. These are all reasons people ditch their resolutions. Some common resolutions amongst Christians, in regards to their faith are to read their Bible more, go to church more often, pray more, etc. Again, even people of faith abandon these goals more often than not, because they want to do everything on their own, or they want to be absolutely perfect and when they are not they feel like they failed. All of these feelings are valid, but do not let them hold you back.

My first challenge to you if you are wanting to deepen your faith and your relationship with God, is to seek him and his son. Seek Jesus. This is the first topic of the week. Seeking Jesus. I want you to go ahead and read Luke 19:1-10.

Luke 19:1-10 is all about Zacchaeus. “Zacchaeus was a wee little man, who climbed up in a sycamore tree to see what he could see”- Right? That is not the only thing we can take away from this passage. Zacchaeus was too short to see Jesus over the crowd, but why did that matter to him? He most likely had heard the stories of Jesus and the people he had helped and the lives he had changed. Zacchaeus probably wanted to know what all this “salvation” was about, and how he could live eternal life. His entire knowledge and experience of Jesus prior to this day depicted in Luke was through the accounts of other people. If your faith is struggling or you feel lost, ask for other people’s stories. Ask people to share how they grew to know God, ask other people how they rely on him, and you may receive the help you need and some amazing relationships along the way.

Another thing to take away from this account is this; are you afraid to look silly for Jesus? We are called to not be of this earth, we are called to be different and not follow the ways of the world. Zacchaeus was the chief tax collector, everyone knew who he was and the power that he had. Not only was he powerful, but he was extremely wealthy. Here was this man of high power and esteem, and in order to see Jesus he climbed a tree. That would look a little silly. How silly are you willing to look in order to see Jesus? I hope the answer means that you would fall on your knees before him, or praise God whenever you are compelled to do so. The opinions of others do not matter, your relationship with God is far more important.

To have a relationship with God, and to truly seek him and his son out is much more simple than we make it. Many times we feel like we need to be perfect in order to come to God and ask him for help, or to come to him and thank him, but that is not the case. He sent his one and only son to the world to die for us while we were still sinners. He put that salvation plan in motion so long ago, because he wants us to come to him in every time in our lives, good or bad. God wants us to come to him in our darkest hours, but also in the best times.

-Jana Swanson