I used to make New Year’s resolutions—items that I either wanted to do or needed to stop doing and it was always a list of ten. Ten seemed to be such a nice, round number. Now I have a very modest “bucket list” that I’ll be thrilled to see checked off any time before I die. So, is it wrong to make lists? Do they help keep our lives focused and on track? If I accomplish this or complete that, will I be headed in the right direction and be assured of having a great year? Maybe not.
I recently used my computer to get directions to a friend’s house in Las Vegas. They routed me out Hwy 6 through Laws, up Silver Canyon and over the White Mountains through Fish Lake Valley. May have been “shortest”, but it certainly wasn’t the fastest. And the directions were given without any explanation or word of caution. Good thing I knew the area or I would have been working with confusing directions, not knowing how to get where I needed to be because I was relying on faulty information.
If we’re honest, we have to admit there’s a lot of confusing and inaccurate information vying for our attention—you absolutely can’t live without buying this if you want your life to be perfect—if you change these things, you’ll be the person you really need to be—make your list and work like crazy because it’s really all up to you. The frightening part is that people who accept what is told them without knowing if it is true are destined for frustration and failure. If one of the tourists visiting our valley got the same information I did, the outcome could have been a disaster.
Confused about which way to start out in the New Year? Made a list of resolutions on paper or in your head, hoping that this will help? Believe me, all the lists in the world won’t get your life headed in the right direction. Deciding what to do or what not to do might be a good exercise in bringing focus to your life, but if you’re like me, keeping the resolutions are much harder than coming up with that must-do list in the first place. I’m not talking about a list of things to sort through and give away or places you want to visit during the year. I’m talking about a list of radical changes in your life—the kind of changes that only God can make in a life that is given completely to Him.
Only you know the items that need to be on your list, but at the top of every list has to be “Get Right With God.” And how does that happen? By believing what the Bible says about Jesus. Not only did Jesus say “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life” but also “no man comes to the Father, except by me” (John 14:6) We can’t find the way on our own, no matter how finely tuned our list of resolutions may be. And what about taking the “shortest” way rather than the right way? The Bible also warns about striking out on our own in a direction that sounds right, but in the end leads to destruction (Proverbs 14:12).
Make sure the way you decide to follow in the New Year will get you where you really need to be—in a right relationship with God. Then head on out and enjoy all the blessings that will be yours.