Wisdom Regarding Resolutions
Before I begin to unpack my prayers/resolutions for 2009 and how I intend to approach them, I want to share a great quote I found this morning to help put our resolutions into the right perspective. In a recent article examining Jonathan Edwards’ infamous (and daunting) resolutions, Gene Veith offers these imporant words of caution:
But even conservative Christians can sometimes fall into the trap of paying too much attention to themselves. “Am I really saved?” we can sometimes wonder, looking at our inner lives and hidden sins and finding all too little evidence of our holiness.
We have to admit that our own resolutions to improve our lives, however well-intentioned and sincerely meant, often have little effect. We cannot even keep our resolutions to lose weight or work out at the gym, much less eliminate our sins of lust and cruelty.
Surely Edwards would agree with Martin Luther, who, in his spiritual counseling, would urge tormented souls to stop looking at themselves. Instead, they should look outside themselves to Christ on the cross.
Salvation, both would insist, is extra nos (outside ourselves), founded on the unshakable grace of God and on the objective work of Christ. When we look inside ourselves we see our sin and our weakness, leading us only to despair. But when we look outside ourselves to the promises in God’s Word, we can find joy, confidence, and assurance.
Too often, our well-intended resolutions become a grid by which we judge our value and worth. As Tim Keller would say, they become a form of religion in our lives, and we begin to think that if we rigorously keep them, God is more pleased with us than if we do not. We can subtely begin to trust in our ability to discipline ourselves and devote ourselve to great pursuits, rather than resting in the finished work of Jesus.
May we run the race that has been set before us, all the while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus - the author and perfecter of our faith.
