New Years Unresolutions

When you tell God you’ll do something, do it — now. God takes no pleasure in foolish gabble. Vow it, then do it. Far better not to vow in the first place than to vow and not pay up.  -Ecclesiastes c5 v4-5

While a vast majority of Americans will be making vain and lofty resolutions tomorrow night I have decided it far better to draft my own list of unresolutions.  As I land on the canvas of this dawning new year I will remember what God has done in my heart and life the past 365 days.  I will reflect on what I can be grateful for.

Where to begin? 

This year in passing I have failed again in my own efforts to better me and sanctify myself. My resolutions to quit, start, change—and do better, do more, and in some cases do less—have all crashed and burned. I have seen more than my share what man can do—it is what God can do that I long to see more of. I’ve had my fill of building my own little kingdom while neglecting the poor, the needy, the oppressed, the abandoned, the forgotten, the tossed aside, the spit upon, the hopeless, the old left to die, and the young denied the privilege to live.

Your Kingdom come in my life.

The new year occasion is a time to pray if there ever was a time. 

My wasted promises can starve.  The passing of 2008 signals one less year I have left. May my prayer for this new year consist of more than just bread on my table, but bread for my soul.  May I pray bold prayers for the unlikely, the far-fetched, the doubtful, and the improbable—the impossible.   

God of the new year — Interrupt my plans this coming year that don’t include you, replace my fleeting strength with a never ending supply, shatter my indifference with an undying love, and overshadow my self-pity with an undeserved acceptance.  Amen.