A Resolution Not to Have Resolutions

We’ve now gotten past the first week of the New Year which means that over 50% of us have broken our New Year’s Resolutions. I know that sounds discouraging, but really I think it means we were meant for more. So much more…

The header on my blog says “Leading Others to Completion in Christ”. I’ve learned that one of the definitions of completion is maturity. So I could switch words and it would say, “Leading Others to Maturity in Christ”. But maybe that sounds a bit like I have already arrived and now I am going to show you the way (which if you have hung around here for very long you know I am heading in that direction with you…I haven’t already arrived). How about “Walking with Others as We All Head Toward Maturity in Christ”; accurate but wordy.

So excited to try share with you in a new way, last Wednesday I recorded my first Vlog…video blog. Unfortunately, I was really unhappy with the quality of my web cam and didn’t want to bring you something that was less than excellent, but the thoughts that I wanted to share with you that day have continued to grow inside my heart and have been sprinkled in my time with the Lord since.

It started with my post on December 11th. The Lord challenged me to be an honorable person. Honor…a trait that crosses over into every area of our lives.

From there, He has impressed on me in multiple ways that His desire is not for me to make a list of goals aka New Year’s resolutions. He wants me to pursue being a resolution. It is not about what I do, it is about who I am.

The thoughts I intended to share with you last Wednesday came from a verse I read in Hebrews 11:5 “It was by faith that Enoch was taken up to heaven without dying – he disappeared because God took him. For before he was taken up, he was known as a person who pleased God.” NLT That was who Enoch was…a person who pleased God. There wasn’t a list of things that Enoch did; it was a statement of who he was.

That pretty much says it all and that is what I want to be. You see, I can work hard to become a more engaging speaker, a provoking writer, a good mom, a supportive wife…and all of those things are in fact good. Very good. But is that the sume of what I want to be known for? The things that I do? or do I want to be known for what I am?

You see, all of those things can be taken from me. I could loose my ability to speak. My opportunities to write could all come to an end. The defintion of myself being a good mom or a supportive wife is defined by another; all things outside of my control; outside circumstances.

But…to be known as a person who pleases God. Now that is something I can control. I can control me, Lynn, and no one else. I can control my actions minute by minute. I can choose to please God. With the words I speak to others. With the thoughts that I think that only He can see. With the attitudes I exude no matter how I am treated. I can choose to not listen to my heart, which by the way Jeremiah 17:9 tells me is deceitful and wicked, rationalizing my behavior and telling me what I want to hear instead of truth).

I can choose to be…pleasing to God.

How would you define pleasing to God? Does the Word gives us specifics or is this something we have to figure out on our own? I’d love to how you would define pleasing God! Just click on “comments” below! We’ll talk more Wednesday.

Lynn

4 Comments

  1. I would say it is listening and seeking God and let Him show us what pleasing to God means for us. We are all called to different things. Some women called to work outside the home, others called to stay at home. So if I as a stay at home, do what God is asking, then that is part of me being pleasing to God. But most important take time to listen to Him and ask Him to help me in all He ask me to do.

  2. Anonymous says:

    I loved your post, Lynn! I'm fairly new to your site but I really think God led me to you because this is what He's been dealing with me about. I, too, have not made any New Year's Resolutions. To me, being pleasing to God is:
    Simply being obedient to God.

    Obedience=love

    So, basically, to love God is to be obedient and vice-versa.

    Like you wrote, it's not about a 'list', but about WHO I am.

    I look forward to reading more of your posts.

    Blessings,

    Amy V.

  3. Lynn, your December 11th post spoke so clearly to me too. As I commented then, the Lord has impressed Romans 12:17 on my heart as His theme verse for me. I'm so glad He used you to direct me to that scripture.

    As to what pleases the Lord, years ago I asked that very question and went through the entire Bible making reference to any verses that mentioned that something pleased the Lord. I too wanted to know what brought Him pleasure so that my life would be pleasing to Him.

    Great post Lynn.
    Hugs,
    Joy

  4. Love the Lord…Trust and obey Him. I think that sums it up. When you trust Him you will more readily obey. The more you obey Him, the more more you will trust Him. You trust and obey Him because you love Him. It goes on an on. This is what God showed me in 2009. Looking forward to what He will do in 2010! 🙂

    I'm very intersted in hearing more of your thoughts. 🙂

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