71. New Year’s Resolutions (Part 2): What Resolutions Should I Have?

Posted by Conrad on 01.08.13 in Devotionals.

Last time we talked about New Year Resolutions really were about what you love.  So my list looked really stupid… “#1.  Eat bacon everyday.  #2.  Learn new recipes for bacon, #3. Thank God daily for bacon.”

Resolutions really are us changing what we love and prioritize.

Here’s a good verse that takes that and uses an analogy of two masters:

MT 6:24 “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.

That’s cause we can’t magically split ourselves into two people and have one listen to the first master and the second self listen to the second master.

That would really come in handy for dudes since half the girls out there are always asking dudes to buy them useless stuff like birthday presents and $15 dollar salads – but then at the same time these girls ask them to spend more time with them.  And last I checked, you can’t make the money to buy all that stuff by spending time with girls.  I know this guy who tried that.  The only thing he got was an ulcer.

We have finite bodies, with finite amounts of time and resources.

If you choose to sit down and watch TV, you inherently have chosen not to do other things like exercise, do devotions or build a giant robot.

At any particular point in time, you are inherently asking yourself, “What is my priority right now?”

I don’t want to say that if you sit down and watch TV for five minutes that your priority isn’t God.  Maybe before that you evangelized to thirty people that day, built a church and sang nothing but Celine Dion songs.

If you write down all those priorities during the day you’ll see what your overall priority is – and more importantly – who you serve.

Does your priority list look like you serve yourself or God?

Try this…

Ask yourself, “What priorities does God want me to have?  If God got a hold of my calendar and came up with a schedule for me, what would it look like?”

“If God were to write down your New Year’s Resolutions for you, what would be on that list?”

Right after you’re done reading this, take a couple minutes to jot down what you think God’s priorities for your life for this year are.

And no, $15 salads are not a priority.

MT 6:24 “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.

MT 6:25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? [26] Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? [27] Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

MT 6:28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. [29] Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. [30] If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? [31] So do not worry, saying, `What shall we eat?’ or `What shall we drink?’ or `What shall we wear?’ [32] For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. [33] But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well

Take time to pray: Ask God for wisdom on what His priorities are for your life.

Today’s Fruit of the Spirit: Love.  A love for God so as to value what He values.