“Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and He will establish your plans”—Proverbs 16:3 (NIV).
Long to-do lists were a daily staple when I taught school. I had my lists divided into different categories, hoping to accomplish each before my head hit the pillow at night. Most days I was successful. In my quest to finish everything on my list, I often drove others crazy. However, mentally, I was awarding myself a gold star each time I marked off something on my list.
When I committed my life to the Lord in 2001, I came to understand the importance of letting Him establish my plans. If anyone had told me at the time that I would begin writing a weekly faith-based column four years later, I would have laughed. My post-retirement plans had included freelance writing for local, state and national publications, as well as continuing with my professional photography business. I had also planned to substitute teach at my former place of employment.
Those were my intentions. However, they were not the Lord’s plans for my life. Within two months of leaving my 30-year teaching career, God turned my life upside down. I found myself in a new town, approximately 65 miles from friends and family, doing things I never envisioned. However, God knew.
To say that my life has been exciting since I said “Yes” to His plans is an understatement. However, that’s what happens when you commit your ways to Him. I’ve been places and done things I never could have imagined, including a spiritual pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
We’re about three weeks into the New Year. Some of us made resolutions. Some of us didn’t. Some are still striving to make them
Asked about his New Year’s resolutions, the Reverend Billy Graham replied, “If I could make only one resolution it would be this: that I might become more and more like Christ during the coming year. The Bible says, ‘Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind’ (Romans 12:2). Every day we are tempted to forget God and live for ourselves, but God’s will is for us to become more and more like His Son. And this happens as we stay close to Christ and allow His Spirit to change us and renew us from within. When we submit our hearts and lives to Christ, the Bible says we will be ‘transformed into his likeness…which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit’” (2 Corinthians 3:18).
Becoming more like Christ is a process. Once we have rejected sin, we must begin to share His love with others. To become more like Christ requires us to grow in our character. Galatians 5:22-23 says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”
I wonder, if we committed our lives to following Christ, would we have need for New Year’s resolutions?