Real resolution meets religious reality...
It kills me that people even make New Year's resolutions anymore. It is common practice to not carry through, so why even bother? I pondered this question during prayer recently.
Seek and ye shall find, indeed. An insight of personal significance was given which has general implications from which other may perhaps benefit.
I have recently struggled with holiness. We are commanded to be holy as God Himself is holy: with perfect holiness. Remember that part? "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect" [Matt. 5:48].
I don't think Christ was blowing smoke, either. C. S. Lewis wrote the command was not simply "vague, idealistic gas" but was rather a real expectation for one who would call themselves by a derivative of Christ's name. Christians gloss over this too often. "We can't possibly be perfect," they will assure themselves whenever confronted with the command. Why then would God demand this of us, then? We are to be holy. The real Christian is a work in progress; a creature being constantly perfected by the Master to reflect the infinite glory of Christ [2 Cor 3:18].
But how is this possible? And what in the world does this have to do with resolution?
The LORD recalled a particular biblical personality to my mind in answer to my ponderings on resolution: the prophet Daniel. Snatched from his people and culture, Daniel was transplanted into the pagan Babylonian society and brought into the household of the King of Babylon to serve. Obviously the Babylonians did not observe the same religious practices as the Jews, but Daniel decided to be different.But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself... Dan. 1:8a, NKJV
Sounds like a resolution to me.
Then the other shoe dropped--the answer to my dilemma of holiness. God does indeed expect me to be perfectly holy, but this is beyond my power. "No problem," says He. "I know this. As I once told the Apostle: My grace is sufficient for thee. My power is made perfect in your weakness."
And what's the relation to resolutions? Simple. Why do most people fail in their New Year's resolutions? Answer: because the first time they stumble--the first cigarette smoked or piece of cheesecake ingested--they find that they really don't have resolve at all. Real resolve isn't immune to temporary failure any more than the Christian is immune to sin. The true test of resolve comes when each failure occurs: do I renew my resolve, dust myself off, and go back at it or do I wallow in my failure?
As for real resolve and the demand of perfection, I'll let C. S. Lewis explain that in more detail.[T]his Helper who will, in the long run, be satisfied with nothing less than absolute perfection, will also be delighted with the first feeble, stumbling effort you make tomorrow to do the simplest duty. As a great Christian writer (George MacDonald) pointed out, every father is pleased at the baby's first attempt to walk: no father would be satisfied with anything less than a firm, free, manly walk in a grown-up son. In the same way, he said, 'God is easy to please, but hard to satisfy.'
The practical upshot is this. On the one hand, God's demand for perfection need not discourage you in the least in your present attempts to be good, or even in your present failures. Each time you fall He will pick you up again. And He knows perfectly well that your own efforts are never going to bring you anywhere near perfection. On the other hand, you must realize from the outset that the goal towards which He is beginning to guide you is absolute perfection...
God doesn't expect us to be immediately perfect, but he does expect us to maintain resolve--to "purpose in our hearts" to become perfect. That may be as close to perfection as we can get on this side of eternity, but God expects no less of us.
Seek and ye shall find, indeed. An insight of personal significance was given which has general implications from which other may perhaps benefit.
I have recently struggled with holiness. We are commanded to be holy as God Himself is holy: with perfect holiness. Remember that part? "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect" [Matt. 5:48].
I don't think Christ was blowing smoke, either. C. S. Lewis wrote the command was not simply "vague, idealistic gas" but was rather a real expectation for one who would call themselves by a derivative of Christ's name. Christians gloss over this too often. "We can't possibly be perfect," they will assure themselves whenever confronted with the command. Why then would God demand this of us, then? We are to be holy. The real Christian is a work in progress; a creature being constantly perfected by the Master to reflect the infinite glory of Christ [2 Cor 3:18].
But how is this possible? And what in the world does this have to do with resolution?
The LORD recalled a particular biblical personality to my mind in answer to my ponderings on resolution: the prophet Daniel. Snatched from his people and culture, Daniel was transplanted into the pagan Babylonian society and brought into the household of the King of Babylon to serve. Obviously the Babylonians did not observe the same religious practices as the Jews, but Daniel decided to be different.But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself... Dan. 1:8a, NKJV
Sounds like a resolution to me.
Then the other shoe dropped--the answer to my dilemma of holiness. God does indeed expect me to be perfectly holy, but this is beyond my power. "No problem," says He. "I know this. As I once told the Apostle: My grace is sufficient for thee. My power is made perfect in your weakness."
And what's the relation to resolutions? Simple. Why do most people fail in their New Year's resolutions? Answer: because the first time they stumble--the first cigarette smoked or piece of cheesecake ingested--they find that they really don't have resolve at all. Real resolve isn't immune to temporary failure any more than the Christian is immune to sin. The true test of resolve comes when each failure occurs: do I renew my resolve, dust myself off, and go back at it or do I wallow in my failure?
As for real resolve and the demand of perfection, I'll let C. S. Lewis explain that in more detail.[T]his Helper who will, in the long run, be satisfied with nothing less than absolute perfection, will also be delighted with the first feeble, stumbling effort you make tomorrow to do the simplest duty. As a great Christian writer (George MacDonald) pointed out, every father is pleased at the baby's first attempt to walk: no father would be satisfied with anything less than a firm, free, manly walk in a grown-up son. In the same way, he said, 'God is easy to please, but hard to satisfy.'
The practical upshot is this. On the one hand, God's demand for perfection need not discourage you in the least in your present attempts to be good, or even in your present failures. Each time you fall He will pick you up again. And He knows perfectly well that your own efforts are never going to bring you anywhere near perfection. On the other hand, you must realize from the outset that the goal towards which He is beginning to guide you is absolute perfection...
God doesn't expect us to be immediately perfect, but he does expect us to maintain resolve--to "purpose in our hearts" to become perfect. That may be as close to perfection as we can get on this side of eternity, but God expects no less of us.