I’m not so much into making resolutions in January as regrouping. After the fall season, which, in my life, is dominated by the demands of the Christmas Outreach followed quickly by the frenzy of Christmas preparations, I often use the lull between Christmas and New Year to catch my breath and regroup, reprioritize, and even repent.
Repent really means to turn around, to change direction. That’s truly what resolutions are about. We resolve to change directions on some habit, or to begin some new and positive direction in our lives. It is one thing to decide to change, to “resolve” to do something, but it’s an entirely different thing to actually show up consistently and actually make that change happen.
Matthew 3:8 calls this producing “the fruit in keeping with repentance.” In other words, resolving, or regrouping, or reprioritizing, or repenting to the point that we are still showing up in February and in May, and in September and in next December, with the same enthusiasm and determination (maybe even more) that we have right now. Showing up consistently proves there’s real fruit in the changes we’ve made.
Where is it you’ve decided you need to show up? Where has God been touching your life and bringing conviction that we need to regroup or repent or reprioritize? The great news is, when we do show up, we don’t go there alone. The Immanuel of Christmas, that God With Us, shows up there, too. We aren’t in this alone — at least we shouldn’t be if we want to be successful in what we’re attempting. So take your resolutions, or your regroupings, or your repentances — whatever it is you call them, and show up in His presence. We can count on Him to be there to meet us, to give us all we need to produce that fruit!
by Sheri Cook, Director of Special Ministries
