Of course it is. But the reason the question is asked, is because every year many folks make BOGUS RESOLUTIONS they do not intend to keep.
People make them for various reasons. They make them before the New Year, and they break them shortly after.
God is not pleased with BOGUS RESOLUTIONS!
But God is pleased when someone makes new resolutions, and by the grace of God, they have every intention of keeping them.
Many people can look back in their lives, and see that a particular new year was a turning point for them.
They made New Year’s resolutions from a sincere heart, and God has used those resolutions to change their lives.
Any year is a good year to make good, sound, biblical resolutions.
Let us look at several things that can make this a life changing year. If it is going to be that kind of year, there are some things we must include.
We need to do some repenting. Let’s look at-
I. THE REPENTANCE
If you lived this past year without sinning, you do not have anything to repent about. But I seriously doubt anyone here falls into that category.
Everyone here has sinned, and we need to start the New Year by truly repenting of those sins.
However, we do not hear a great deal about repentance these days.
Why? Because repentance means:
(1) I have done something wrong, or there would be no need to repent.
(2) I have to take the responsibility for the sin I have committed.
The reason you do not hear much preaching on repentance, is because of these “Ear Tickling” preachers. They know that the last thing their congregations want to do, is to confess they have sinned, and to take the responsibility for their sins.
We have those today, who will admit that they have done some things wrong, and they have all kinds of excuses for their actions.
God is not looking for excuses, God is looking for repentance.
We live in an age when people have all kinds of excuses for every wrong thing they have done.
Illus: Lloyd H. Steffen wrote, in The Christian Century, about the time King Frederick II, an eighteenth-century king of Prussia, visited a prison in Berlin. The inmates tried to prove to him how they had been unjustly imprisoned. As he walked among them, they all made it clear to him that the reason they were there was because:
• It was a family members fault.
• It was a friend’s fault.
• It was a misunderstanding.
Every one of them had some excuse for being there, and it had nothing to do with any fault of their own.
All except one. That one sat quietly in a corner, while all the rest protested their innocence.
Seeing him sitting there, the king asked him what he was there for. He said, "Armed robbery, Your Honor." The king asked, "Were you guilty?" "Yes, Sir," he answered. "I entirely deserve my punishment."
The king then gave an order to the guard: "Release this guilty man. I don't want him corrupting all these innocent people."
We live in a world today that is filled with ungodly people, but to hear them talk, you would never know it was their fault.
Today, God is not looking for people who will start the New Year by making excuses for their sins. God is looking for men and women who will:
(1) Acknowledge they have sinned.
(2) Take responsibility for their sins.
(3) And then repent of their sins.
Illus: When Michigan played Wisconsin in basketball, early in the season in 1989, Michigan's Rumeal Robinson stepped to the foul line for two shots, late in the fourth quarter.
His team trailed by one point, so Rumeal could regain the lead for Michigan. He missed both shots, allowing Wisconsin to upset favored Michigan.
Rumeal felt awful about costing his team the game, but his sorrow didn't stop at the emotional level. After each practice, for the rest of the season, Rumeal shot one hundred extra foul shots. Thus, when Rumeal stepped to the foul line, to shoot two shots, with three seconds left in overtime in the national-championship game, he was ready.
Swish went the first shot, and swish went the second. Those shots won Michigan the national championship.
Rumeal's repentance had been genuine, and sorrow motivated him to work so that he would never make that mistake again. As Paul wrote, "Godly sorrow worketh repentance" (2 Cor. 7:10). (Charles Edward White, Spring Arbor, Michigan. Leadership, Vol. 11, no. 1. )
God is looking for people in our churches, who will truly repent of their evil.
Illus: Erin, a young girl who was usually the model of good behavior in church, was particularly wiggly one Sunday morning. After distracting all those around her for some time, and ignoring her father's warning to be still, her father finally scooped her up and began walking to the rear of the church for an "attitude adjustment." Just before they got to the back door, Erin screamed, "Help! Save me!" The heartfelt plea of the penitent sinner was never more sincere, but it didn't do much for decorum that morning. (Robert E. Hays, D. Min., Lawton, OK. Christian Reader, "Lite Fare." )
God is seeking for men and women who will start the New Year, with sincere REPENTANCE of their sins from the Old year.
God would not be pleased with anyone here making New Year’s resolutions, and not repenting of their old sins.
II. THE RESOLUTION
WHAT IS THE PROBLEM WITH MAKING NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS?
Many people are not serious when they make them, and when they do make them, it is some worthless resolution that does not amount to anything.
Illus: Such as, they resolve to no longer eat pumpkin pie, but it is only because they have discovered they like cheese cake better.
Some believe we all get a clean slate at midnight on New Year's Eve. It's as though there was something magic about New Year's Eve.
But the fact is, the sins that held us in bondage last year, unless we truly repent of them, will also hold us in bondage in the coming year.
Look at the life of the apostle Paul.
(1) HE RECOGNIZED SOMETHING.
What did he RECOGNIZE?
Look at Philippians 3:12, we read, “Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.”
Paul said he recognized that he was not yet where God would like for him to be. He said, “Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect…”
Listen, if the apostle Paul recognized that he had not reached perfection, consider how much more you and I need to recognize that we have not reached perfection.
He recognized the need for change in his life.
But it is not enough just to recognize the need, he wanted to do something about it. Notice-
(2) HE RESOLVED SOMETHING.
WHAT DID HE RESOLVE?
Look at Philippians 3:13-14. We read, “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.“
Paul recognized that the only thing we can do with our past sins, is learn from them, and repent of them, and put those things behind us.
Look what he said, “…And reaching forth unto those things which are before. I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”
DO YOU KNOW WHY THERE ARE SO MANY LOST PEOPLE?
Illus: It is because of this. Have you ever watched men at a track meeting when they placed a bar between two poles at a certain height? Each one of the contestants takes their turn jumping over it. Generally, every one of them makes it over the bar to start with, because the bar has been lowered so is not hard to clear. But as the contest continues, they start raising the bar, and one by one the contestants are eliminated, until finally only one can jump and clear the bar.
This is what the devil has done. He has lowered the bar so low that anyone can jump it. For example:
• We have young men, who think that to be a man, they have to be able to drink a couple of six packs of beer.
Listen, that is no indication of manhood. You can pour a couple of six packs into a hog trough, and a hog can do that.
• The devil has convinced some, that in order to be cool, they have got to dress weird, and wear nose rings, eye rings, belly button rings, etc..
Again, that is no indication of manhood, the same thing could be done to a cow.
The devil has lowered the bar so low, that it requires nothing of people.
But notice when Paul talked about the Christian life, he said “…I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”
Look at the word “Press”. This is the Greek word “dioko”.
Illus: When we see that word, it is easy for us to think of weight lifting. Especially when someone is bench pressing. The bar is lowered to their chest, and they start pressing against the bar, and it starts to go up, up, up until the elbows are straight. But to achieve the goal, there must be a lot of hard pressing.
Paul said, “I press toward the mark”, and that implies that a real effort has to be made, or else it will not be achieved.
Someone said that pressing toward the mark means:
• We resolve to press toward the mark like Paul did.
• We resolve to trust God like Abraham did.
• We resolve to walk with God like Enoch did.
• We resolve to turn away from evil advances like Joseph did.
• We resolve to run to the battle like Gideon, even when friends chicken out.
God is pleased when people will resolve to do something.
Did you know that resolutions are no more than setting goals that you want to achieve? When you shoot at nothing, you should not be surprised if you do not hit anything.
If the Lord is gracious to us, and gives us another year, we will have 365 days to do something for Him.
But if you do not set any goals that you want to achieve in the coming year, when next year comes to a close, the only thing that will have happened, is that you will have taken up a lot of space, and breathed a lot of air. You will have accomplished nothing in your life.
Conclusion:
Have you ever been to a “Turkey shoot”? Every fellow that goes to one, thinks he has the best gun in the county.
They all come out to an isolated area, and they have a target set up. And each person brings his shotgun, to shoot at the target, and to try to win the prize. And if the target is a good distance away, they will put the cross hairs in the center of the target, and then raise the sight a little bit.
Do you know why they do that?
Because they know that once they pull that trigger, the shot will go straight for a little distance, but the shot will fall the further it goes.
So they make the adjustment for the shot dropping, by aiming a little high. And they hope, that as they raise their sights, the falling shot will hit the bull’s eye.
I believe the Lord would be pleased with us today, if we all would aim high. And if we do not hit what we are aiming for, we will still do well.
I. THE REPENTANCE
II. THE RESOLUTION
