THE DISTRACTION OF NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS

THE DISTRACTION OF NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS

Sunday, December 28, 2014

Matthew [GW] 5:33-37 [Jesus explained] "You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, 'Never break your oath, but give to the Lord what you swore in an oath to give him.' But I tell you don't swear an oath at all. Don't swear an oath by heaven, which is God's throne, or by the earth, which is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, which is the city of the great King. And don't swear an oath by your head. After all, you cannot make one hair black or white. Simply say yes or no. Anything more than that comes from the evil one.

Romans [GW] 7:18-25 [Apostle Paul wrote] I know that nothing good lives in me; that is, nothing good lives in my corrupt nature. Although I have the desire to do what is right, I don't do it. I don't do the good I want to do. Instead, I do the evil that I don't want to do. Now, when I do what I don't want to do, I am no longer the one who is doing it. Sin that lives in me is doing it. So I've discovered this truth: Evil is present with me even when I want to do what God's standards say is good. I take pleasure in God's standards in my inner being. However, I see a different standard at work throughout my body. It is at war with the standards my mind sets and tries to take me captive to sin's standards which still exist throughout my body. What a miserable person I am! Who will rescue me from my dying body? I thank God that our Lord Jesus Christ rescues me! So I am obedient to God's standards with my mind, but I am obedient to sin's standards with my corrupt nature.

  Resolutions make for great material for comedians, but for many people they’re not a laughing matter. Failing at resolution can produce guilt, disgust, discouragement [rob of courage, leaving fearful], or even despair.

  How many resolutions are made for good reasons, but not the most important reason?

  To illustrate, let’s consider what is probably the most common oath taken every year: “I’m going to lose weight this year.” Or more clearly defined “I’m going to lose XX pounds this year.” Or the even yet more defined, “I’m going to lose XX pounds a month for the next 12 months.”

  Losing weight is certainly a healthy goal for many of us Americans, but for what reason, to what gain?

  Is our resolve based in our ego-centric corrupt nature?

·         I don’t like the way I look.

·         I’m tired of wardrobe problem.

·         The way I’m going the only thing I won’t have to donate to the thrift store is my knit hat.

·         I want to be able to _________ again.

·         My weight is affecting my sex life.

·         People make fun of me.

·         Compared to me, all my family and friends are trim.

·         I’ve got GERD, hypertension, bad cholesterol, diabetes...

·         I huff puff and tire too easily.

·         After eating I have difficulty staying awake.

·         _______________________________.

 

  Or is our resolve spiritually gathered from God’s Word in the desire to honor, glorify, and please our King? If not, we continue to live a distracted life . . . with resolutions doing no more than adding to the stress and confusion.

  Let us beware of the distracting disturbance of oaths not kept.

  Let our word sincerely be, Yes, yes; No, no; for anything is more than this is devilish says our Lord.  EBB4