As
we start a new year, many people have put their focus on resolutions
that they know they will never keep. I too have set a few goals for
myself, and a few of them, I know I will probably squander, as I only
have so much time, but lofty thoughts of grand accomplishments.
One
of the goals I have set, that will be the first on my list, as to
keep my focus on accomplishing it, is to be more focused on God's
word. The first book that I have started studying is the book of
Romans, and it is a bit ironic, as most of the book of Romans is
about change, which is what most people are after with resolutions. I
know when most people think of Romans and change, they think of the
passage from Romans 12.
Romans
12:1,2
1I
beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you
present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God,
which
is
your reasonable service. 2And
do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing
of your mind, that you may prove what is
that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
But
this passage is the very starting point of the book of Romans, as
first we must have faith that a change can be made in us, before we
go about making that change.
Romans 1:16,17
16For
I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God
to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also
for the Greek. 17For
in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it
is written, “The just shall live by faith.”
How
many weight loss programs did you hear advertised this past week? How
many different gyms had discounts for memberships over the holidays?
How many emails did you receive from self help gurus, promising to
change your life if you would just sign up for their three month
course?
Why
because unless we are lifted up, and believe we can do something, we
usually give up before accomplishing our task. Around the end of the
year the airways are flooded with every motivator know to man. But
where do we find true motivation, in the one who made us, God our
creator. When we put our trust in what He has done in us, and have
faith that the work He began in us will be carried out, we find it
easy to find our focus.
So
quit looking to outside motivators, while seeking to accomplish your
goals for this new year, but be not ashamed of the Gospel, and look
to the righteousness of God that is revealed in us, from faith to
faith, as “The just shall live by faith.”
