2007-?

I have just caught my breath, but I think i am ready to begin again. it's another new year and i am eager to approach it with vigilance. it is a year very different from any other. i am in an opposing world, facing challenges i have been shielding myself from (in some ways intentionally, in some ways not). i am asking questions that i have never asked before; questions i've either been too afraid to ask or just never thought to ask. this has been a good two weeks to spend evaluating my life, comparing it's current status to what it was before. with these thoughts in mind i believe it is time to make some new years resolutions. now, before you get the wrong idea, please know i have been guilty of making fun of new years resolutions because for the common american they are likely very trite and are only observed for a brief time in which one quickly gives up, contently resolved to renew them with the upcoming new year. i cannot help but notice the obsessive amount of weight loss and smoking aid commercials that come on tv-makes sense, considering these are the top resolutions americans make each year (along with the #3, being a "better person"). however, if you overlook the connotations that accompany the word "resolutions," you might see a greater purpose therein; and I believe the good man Jonathan Edwards knew that purpose more powerfully and put it to use more effectively than I ever will.

oh, if i could only have a taste of the loving devotion Edwards had for his LORD, and the fervency in which he sought holiness, i would know more fully the abundant life. Edwards meticulously and constantly examined his life, comparing it to the Word in every aspect. This was not for the purpose of a worldly compulsion to reach perfection, or out of desire for recognition, but solely for the sake of Christ his Lord. In 1922, Edwards began journaling what he coined "The Resolutions." by 1923, the list had grown from one resolution to seventy.

if any of you are like me, you are frightened by the idea of resolutions, probably because you do not trust yourself to keep them. Edwards' resolutions are no less frightening to me for the very same reason. however, they are very different from the cliche american new years resolutions because they are not renewed every year, but every day, hour, minute, second. Edwards reread his resolutions each week to remind him of this. also, he was not intimidated by his resolutions because he did not have faith in himself to fulfill them, for with that mentality he knew he would indefinitely fail, rather, He had faith in the Lord to carry them out in his life. this is what we find beneath his title of "The Resolutions":

"Being sensible that I am unable to do anything without God's help, I do humbly entreat him by his grace to enable me to keep these Resolutions, so far as they are agreeable to his will, for Christ's sake."

it was only by God's grace that Edwards was able to adhere to these Resolutions; and he undoubtedly performed them not out of duty, but pure joy! if I am aware of these things as well, why am i so hesitant to write my own Resolutions? is Edwards just an exception, a sparkling diamond among Christ-followers, in which few live up to? or is Edwards a blatant reminder not only of how we are to live the Christian life, but of what it means to ENJOY Christ in His fullness? the answer to this question, i honestly do not have, but it's definitely something i've been exploring and will continue to explore.

here's what i do know. as a believer i do not need to be making new years resolutions, but new life reformations. if i am being transformed daily into Christ, i should be resolving daily to shed the dead skin of my former nature and be completely clothed in the righteousness that was imputed at conversion. i need to trust that the Lord is already doing this in me, despite my inability to see it sometimes. i need to remind myself each day that it is God alone who began a good work in me and He will bring it to "completion at the day of Jesus Christ" (Phil.1:6); and that Christ is sanctifying me completely through His own blood (Heb.13:12). it's not me, it's not me, it's not me...

Julia's new life reformation #1:
Make the best use of my time here, because the days are evil. (Eph. 5:16)

that's one down. may the grace of God alone enable me to do this for the sake of Christ. oh, experience the happiness of knowing my Lord in His fullness, may that always be my ultimate end.

read Edwards' resolutions. be challenged, be humbled, be convicted, be resolved to do the same.