A Different Kind of Resolution.

So now is the time of year where we start feeling bad about all the money we're spending so frivolously on Christmas presents we don't need, all the cookies we're eating in honor of having "holiday spirit," the busyness and time-crunching acrobatics we're performing in order to make our own way... And so we swear to these things called "resolutions."  We resolve to get rich (stop spending frivolously), get skinny (quit eating cookies and get up off our butts), and prioritize (stop running around like chickens with our heads cut off).  It's all out of guilt.  And it fails every time.  I mean seriously... if I had succeeded at keeping these resolutions last year, would I be pledging to lose the same 10 pounds this year?  Would I be swearing I'm going to get up at the butt crack of dawn every day and read my Bible?  If I had succeeded at last year's resolutions, I could just sit back and take it easy (laughing at everyone else) because obviously if out of sheer will power, I was able to accomplish really anything at all, I must be perfect.


I want to challenge you to make a different kind of resolution.  A resolution to start your year depending on the favor of God to make it through til next year.  And not just make it through, but accomplish something for Him.  Make a difference.  Be used.


I have a favorite way of making this kind of resolution.  Maybe it won't be for you.  But perhaps after the initial reluctance and excuses fade... perhaps you could consider joining me.  


It's called a Daniel fast.  (read the story of Daniel.  it's... well... it's in Daniel.  In the Bible.)


Hear me out.  This is not about rules and strict adherence to some sort of impossible expectation.  Remember, it's about starting your year off depending on God, not yourself or your circumstances.  You can modify it how you like.  I have done it many different ways.  One year, in addition to eating only vegetables and fruit, I cut out coffee (BAD IDEA).  Another year, was just no animal products.  Alot of people will just include plant based, plain foods and no alcohol.  Talk to God about it.  Get a plan and then depend on Him to see you through.  And during that time, really seek His will.  Seek out opportunities to serve.  Try out some new directions.  Step outside your comfort zone.  Be brave.  Remember you're not doing anything on your own.  You're learning to live in His strength.


My suggestion: make a list of things you are seeking God's will on.  Each morning (or evening, whatever works for you) after you spend some time in your Bible and do your regular prayer or journaling or whatever you normally do... cover these topics with God.  You don't have to whine and fuss and be frantic.  You're laying everything down and giving it over to him.  By doing the fast, you're giving him control of these situations and waiting to see how he will handle them. 


It's 21 days.  I've read that a habit takes 21 days to secure.  So this is a good time frame to learn dependence and followership (no, I don't think that is an actual word, but that's ok).  We are so used to leading.  Sometimes it takes a deliberate act of the will to take that step back and acknowledge that No, I am not God and I'm not going to try to do His job.  I start on the 1st of January and go to the 21st.  But you could start on the 2nd if you have some huge family function to go to or whatever.  


What have you got to lose right?  I think the Daniel fast is one of the best disciplines for going deeper in your relationship with God... Why not give it a shot?


In a few days, I'll be posting a list of some of the things I'll be seeking God for this new year.  Maybe you will join me in some of them.  But be thinking about your own list in the coming days.  This is a resolution worth making!

E.T.A.  If you decide this is how you want to start your new year, let me know!  That way, I can be praying for you too, that God will use that time to speak to you loud and clear.  Thanks for reading.

2 Peter 1:

^5-9So don't lose a minute in building on what you've been given, complementing your basic faith with good character, spiritual understanding, alert discipline, passionate patience, reverent wonder, warm friendliness, and generous love, each dimension fitting into and developing the others. With these qualities active and growing in your lives, no grass will grow under your feet, no day will pass without its reward as you mature in your experience of our Master Jesus. Without these qualities you can't see what's right before you, oblivious that your old sinful life has been wiped off the books.
 ^10-11So, friends, confirm God's invitation to you, his choice of you. Don't put it off; do it now. Do this, and you'll have your life on a firm footing, the streets paved and the way wide open into the eternal kingdom of our Master and Savior, Jesus Christ.