Have you ever made a resolution related to your faith? Attend church more often. Read the Bible in a year. Read the Bible at all.
Sound familiar? Many times, I've attempted to read the Bible in a year. I've read the whole Bible, but sometimes it typically takes me more than a year.
When try to follow a "read the Bible in a year plan", sure enough, I miss a few days then rush through many chapters to catch up, not taking the time to absorb what I'm reading. After many failures, I realize it's more important to read it with attention and discerning than to read the same amount every day just to check a task of my list.
Making resolutions about our faith comes from a place of positive intention. After all, part of spiritual maturity is taking an honest reflection of our standing, then taking action based on it.
James 1:22-24 says, " But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not just hearers who deceive themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was."
The pitfall is when we turn "taking action" into a resolution: inflexible, and accomplishment-based. Is that what God wants?
Referencing our recently study of Crazy Love, by Francis Chan, God wants and deserves our deep love and honor. We love God so much that we can't help but take action on our faith. When we love God, we want to hear from him--we read our Bible.
It isn't a task to check off of a to-do list. It's a highlight of the day!
Another hazard of making our faith-filled actions a resolution is waiting to start. How often to we set a resolution a few days days (or weeks) before New Year's Day?
Referencing the song 'Tomorrow may be too Late' by Adam Geibel, "Today is the day of salvation. Tomorrow may be too late."
Don't wait until January 1st to start taking action on your faith. Start today!
I'd love to hear your thoughts and actions.
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