"If you are controlling your life and spending it on yourself, even partly, you are abusing it and taking it away from God's original purpose. Learn from Christ that the beauty and purpose of having life is so that you can surrender it to God and then allow Him to fill it with His glory."
Andrew Murray
Last night I was spending some time with the Lord and He laid the idea of resolutions on my heart. I'm not really a new year's resolution kind of girl, in fact I'm pretty sure this year was the first time I have ever bothered to make one. I think making resolutions usually sets you up for disappointment; I think it might be contrary to our nature to hold to plans to change ourselves with so little accountability. I guess that's where God comes in.
Anyway, God didn't lead me to this thought to encourage some crazy diet fad or whatever other resolutions people are planning for 2011. It was more like I was encouraged to think about spending this year expectantly waiting on God. To resolutely seek God's heart and to truly surrender myself to Him. Not in a way that has to begin on January 1st and end on December 31st, but I do feel excited for a new year and a fresh start. I feel like I want this year to be a marker of deeper intimacy with God. It's not like I can plan for that, but I feel like God is leading me to expect it and to be excited for it.
Today I was thinking about what the Bible has to say about this and what our part is in it. The verse that came to mind is Luke 9:51 where it says: "As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem." Jesus had a determination about him to do the will of God. He was always "about the Father's business". The depth of Jesus' surrender to the will of God is truly breathtaking.
I have been reading the book Absolute Surrender by Andrew Murray, which the quote above came from. Today I read the chapter "That God May Be All in All". It was so amazing, I feel like I need to read it about four more times to get everything out of it. The chapter was about how Jesus' life was all about giving glory to God so that He may be all in all! He talks about how to live a life like that, and I was so encouraged by it. There is sooo much good stuff in that book so far, I would encourage you to read it in you haven't!
So I guess, in short, I want this year to be about God. Just like I wanted last year to be about God and the year before. Nothing new, but at the same time always surprising, growing, changing and amazing me. I don't want to "do my best" for God, I want to give God everything and let Him do whatever He wants with it. I want to seek God's heart with determination, like Jesus did. I want to live my life "that God may be all in all". I guess I just want focus. No distractions, just Jesus, because nothing else compares.
I love this song by Misty Edwards, it led me to this rabbit trail of thoughts. I think it has something to do with the fact that she says "yester-year" haha. :)
