1st Post of the New Year

The holiday sabbatical is over and the daily routines of life are again in full swing.  This is always the time of year when the "resolve" to begin, change or modify certain behaviors is at its highest level of intensity.  Christians, among all people, should be people of resolve.  The specifics of our individual resolves are as varied as we are.  But, the goal we are resolved to achieve, the target we are aiming for should be the same.  The end of our pursuit is conformity to the image of Jesus Christ.  We will only achieve that goal perfectly when we are glorified, but, as image bearers, we understand that our effort and the supernatural transforming power of the Holy Spirit sanctify us even in this life so that we will resemble our Savior.

History is full of stories of Christians with resolve.  We all can benefit by reading the 70 Resolutions of Jonathon Edwards and  learning from the depth of introspection he applied to his own thought life and patterns of behavior.

The Book of Daniel provides another good example of how closely Christian character and personal resolve are linked.  Daniel 1:8 provides the summary of Daniel's reaction to the order by King Nebuchadnezzar that he and his colleagues eat the king's food and drink the king's wine as part of their indoctrination into the Babylonian culture: "But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king's food, or with the wine that he drank." (ESV).  A seemingly small issue, food and drink.  And yet, like Daniel, it is our resolve to navigate without compromise the small details and challenges in our secular culture that make all of the difference in the pursuit of our ultimate goal.

J.C. Ryle, a great evangelical bishop of England, wrote a study on holiness, using Hebrews 12:14 as his text, "Strive...for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.".  I commend this sermon to your reading.  More than that, I challenge you to join me in 2010 to resolve to strive for holiness, understanding that holiness is a sign of true saving faith, without which we remain dead in our sins with no hope of seeing the Lord.

Here are the links both Edwards Resolutions and Ryle's study:

The Resolutions of Jonathon Edwards    http://bit.ly/Edwards_Resolutions
A Study By J.C.Ryle                                      http://bit.ly/JC_Ryle_Holiness