Daily Devotional

We have just begun a brand new year and with it come a lot of hopes and fears. We often wonder what changes we will see, what will we face as a family, a church, a nation, and as christians. Will 2023 be a better year than ‘22 or will it be more akin to what we saw with 2020 and the beginning of the pandemic. The short answer is, we don’t know. Part of the exciting part of life is that every day is a mystery, and while we will be subject to what happens to us and around us, a lot depends on how we face those good times and the challenges.

It is often the custom in our culture to make New Year's resolutions, it is also the custom to break those resolutions almost immediately, how sad. But resolutions, not only at New Year’s are good, goals are good, setting targets for ourselves in order to better ourselves are good. But anything that involves changing our habits is difficult. But while I agree that setting healthy habits or striving to be more successful in the coming year are good and fine, let me challenge you to contemplate this verse in Matthew.

Jesus defines what our ultimate life goal should be, our New Year’s resolution if you will. He says to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. What if that was our New Year’s resolution this year, to refocus our minds, our attitudes, our striving on the heavenly things? What could that change in our lives, in our interactions with family and strangers, in our business dealings, with our finances, with, well, everything. So often we set our course and determine through all our human means that we will make our life better, our relationships better, our finances better, with all these different strategies that don’t include God. All the while He is saying that if we just run after Him and His righteousness all those things will be added to us.

Now please don’t misunderstand me, this is not a “follow God to get rich” plan. God has a plan for your life and if you want true happiness, and heavenly peace, the only way you are going to find it is through Him and it may look very different from what you imagine. But God’s ways are the best ways. If we stay true to His commands and follow after Him and His ways we will experience His blessing. And what better desire could we have for 2023.

New King James Version (NKJV)
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.