Comitting our ways to the Lord
So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. James 4:7-8 NLT
There is that feeling that starting the New Year right should be forefront to our to do list at the beginning of the year. This is why people have their New Year’s resolutions. But what is the use of having New Year’s resolutions if you keep on not fulfilling them? Forbes.com wrote an article about this subject with this headline, “Reasons to Make New Year’s Resolutions (Even if you don’t keep them).” Since there is no direct teaching in the Bible whether a Christian should make or not make a resolution, one thing the Bible tells us is that we should have the proper perspective in whatever goals we are setting to achieve. “Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come” (1 Timothy 4:8). Christians are to be committed to set their ways following God’s will for their lives. From the Book of James, we have been constantly reminded to draw ourselves near to God. Depending on our commitment to having Him in the center of our lives will determine how successful we will be in fulfilling the goals we have set for our lives. God promises to every believer that we are able to accomplish His will because we are abiding in Him. “I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). If we think we have had shortcomings in making Him the center of our lives, let us not just ask Him to change our behaviors instead we ask Him to purify our hearts. “Purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world” (James 4:8). To purify the heart means cleansing the mind, and to cleanse the mind is to rid it of the thinking that are contrary to God’s Word. It is to keep out of the mind all those things that are out of keeping with the truth of God as it is revealed in His Word. To cleanse the will is to stop making choices that are based on worldly values and to start making our choices and decisions on the basis of the Word of God. Let us stop setting our affections or our love on the temporary and fleeting things of this world and to begin setting them on things above. “Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. 3 For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:2-3). Minds that are informed by the truth of God, choices that are made according to the will of God, and affections that are set on the things above will result to attitudes that are pleasing to God. “Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you” (Psalm 37:5).
Blessings,
Noel De Guzman
