3 days from now we will be welcoming in another New Year. 2015 is just around the corner and approaching fast. Many of us are seriously thinking about our New Years resolutions. There is a lot of different directions we can take this coming year. We can be like millions of others and decide to get in shape and get healthy. After the first of the year the gyms all around this world are packed with newbies trying to get fit. I remember when I worked in a ladies work out facility, the place would be packed in January and February, People who hadn't worked out in months suddenly appeared and had to be retrained and reeducated on the weight machines and cardio equipment. Hundreds to thousands of newbies would pay a small fortune to get in shape. They had great intentions, like most of us. But intentions do not determine our destination.
As well intentioned as we may be, our intentions never get us to where we need to be, where we want to be without proper direction. We become another "wandering generality" that goes with the flow and meanders through life just barely getting by. Struggles are a normal part of our life, but if our direction is not pointed properly, these struggles can overwhelm us and catapult us into certain destruction.
Year after year after year we make New Years resolutions without ever intending to keep them. We know this from looking at our own track record. How many years have we decided to get healthy until Valentine's Day or Easter. We fall off the wagon and then comes summer with potato salad and corn on the cob and ice cream. I know we'll reevaluate those resolutions once fall hits. Before we know it Christmas has come again along with another New Year and we begin all over again. Sound familiar?
I have done this same routine over and over again every year and every year I fail to fulfill those resolutions. My determination was set in stone, my intentions were good but I lacked the proper direction. Do you also or am I the only one?
My problem, and maybe yours also, lies in the direction I chose to go in. When I come to a fork in the road, I am very tempted to follow everyone else. I want to go with the flow and not ruffle any tail feathers. I chose the direction that is well traveled after all it's easier, right? My flesh is weak! My flesh likes to be surrounded by people just like me. To be a part of the crowd means I am accepted, right?
"Normal people attempt countless goals with limited success. Weird people focus on just one God given objective with tremendous results." Craig Groeschel
This saying hit me right in between my eyes, where my brain is suppose to be. My intentions were meaningless. My determination was pointless. My direction was lost. My focus was placed in the wrong place at the wrong time. Ouch!
I have always tried to set goals, but never seemed to accomplish them. In fact I hated setting goals because that usually means failure for me. I could try and try and try but never seemed to succeed at anything. Why? I would watch others set goals and attain them, but not me. Why? My husband is one of those goal setters and achievers. I felt out of place. What was wrong with me? Yesterday I found out!
At church yesterday Pastor Ben talked about our direction and his talk woke me up. Although my intentions were good and my determination was good, my direction was focused wrong.
When I focus on the flesh, I lose, I die! I lost my direction and my purpose. My direction was being guided by me and my flesh. Instead I have to allow the direction of my life to be guided by the Holy Spirit. That is the only way I can ever succeed at my New Years resolutions. That is the only way I can ever really be alive and full of peace.
This year I am going to be weird! Okay I already am weird but be prepared because I am going to get weirder. I am going to focus on just one God given objective this year. I am going to get healthy but I am following the health plan that the Holy Spirit has given me. You see God has a purpose for me and if I am not healthy, I will die too early in life to be able to accomplish what God has planned for me. If that happens then someone may miss out on heaven because I had the wrong directions. I will not allow that to happen. Who's with me?
Romans 8:6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.
Heavenly Father, today I come to you as a sinner who has followed the wrong directions for too many years. Today I chose health and I will follow your guide for my life. Set my mind on you and only you as I continue this journey in Jesus name I pray, amen!
No comments:
Post a Comment