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'Winging It
by Stan Smith
Every year New Years brings the pressure to make resolutions. You know, things you promise to do to make yourself better ... or something like it. And every year we know we won't keep them. It's a given. Indeed, the one who does keep that kind of a resolution is the anomaly.
What kind of resolutions, then, might be helpful? What would be worth actually pursuing? Not like "I'm going to work out" or "lose weight" or "quit smoking" or that kind of thing. No, something more helpful, more useful, more ... biblical. Like, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me." (Psalm 51:10) See? That's a good one. Biblical. Doable. And beneficial. Well, maybe not "doable" because, after all, it is a request for God to do something.
How about "Work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure." (Philippians 2:12-13)? There, now, see? Isn't that better? Now there's something you can do. Well, sort of. You can "work out your salvation with fear and trembling" and, indeed, ought to be doing that every single day, but in truth, again, we see it is something that God does in you. So it's ... cooperative. And biblical. And beneficial.
Oh, here's one. "One thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:13-14). Good one! You do it. Well, you don't actually award the prize. But you get the idea.
Look, there are lots of really good resolutions that we believers can undertake that come straight out of the Bible. That makes them, by definition, resolutions that matter. Beneficial. And since all good is that which is done by God's power for God's glory, these would be very good things to do. And doable. Why not see what you can find?
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I'm married with four grown children and (currently) four grandchildren. My wife and I live in sunny Phoenix by choice. I hope to encourage people with my words and to share with others what God has shared with me.
For more writings you can see my blog at birdsoftheair.blogspot.com.
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