Do More

Personally, I do not like New Years resolutions because it seems as if every year people name a bunch of things they’re going to accomplish in the coming year, but they fail over and over again. This seems to be a hot trend in America, make resolutions, get excited about them, pursue them, and fail at achieving them. Sound familiar? As much as I dislike New Years resolutions for the sake of it being something that people get excited about and hardly ever follow through, I still made a mini list of things I want to accomplish in this year of 2016. The list is as follows:

Read more books, eat healthier food, read more books, exercise more, read more books…

Notice a pattern? For someone who hated school growing up because you had to read, write, and study all the time…I find myself eager to learn different things all the time. The majority of my recent learning has come from reading books. Thus why I have a desire to read more this year. I am on a good start so far and will continue to stay active in nourishing my mind through the act of reading. Now will I achieve my goal of reading this year? This I do not know. But I will most definitely be working towards achieving my goals.

Now, I mentioned in the first paragraph that I don’t like it when people make resolutions because it is a fad that people pursue and fail…over and over again. And as you just read, I still have the desire to get more done this year, namely, reading more books. But before I think about getting more done this year, I must first rest in the truth and grace of the gospel. As we are so eager to look ahead at what we can do more of this year in our task-oriented world, we are quick to forget what has already been done for us. What has been done for us is that God incarnated Himself into a broken world (John 1:14), that is filled with rebellion towards Him (Psalm 2:2). In His incarnation, He took upon the very flesh and blood that we are today. He lived a perfect life, which resulted in a case for being our ransom, something we could never do (2 Cor. 5:21; 1 Peter 2:22; 1 John 3:5). He performed a multitude of miracles (Mark 4:35-41; Matthew 17:14-21; Matthew 8:1-4; John 2:1-11; John 11:1-46). He offered Himself as a way to the Father (John 14:6), and offered Himself as a perfect sacrifice for the sins of this world (John 3:16). He was despised and hated for these claims (John 15:18), yet they continued to prove true as He overcame the world (John 16:33). Jesus humbled Himself before the Father and chose to be obedient to the Father’s will. In His humility, Jesus received even more opposition from the world, paving a way towards death on a cross. Jesus took on the cross, humbly, as a servant of God and a servant of people, and was crucified. On the cross Jesus echoed, “It is finished.”

Friends, as we think about what we want to “get done” this year, let us first grasp the truth of the gospel. Let us rest in what has been done for us in Christ, as opposed to what we will be getting done for ourselves this year. I am not saying, “let’s drop our resolutions and forget about them…” (cause we still want to go a few more weeks, don’t we? ;)…), but what I am saying is that we should spend each day, rejoicing in the gospel that is for us in Christ Jesus, and know that everything that needs to be done, has already been done.