Ah, I’ve got a plan. Here’s what I’ll do…
Luke:16:4a The Message
Every priest goes to work at the altar each day, offers the same old sacrifices year in, year out, and never makes a dent in the sin problem. As a priest, Christ made a single sacrifice for sins, and that was it! Then he sat down right beside God and waited for his enemies to cave in. It was a perfect sacrifice by a perfect person to perfect some very imperfect people. By that single offering, he did everything that needed to be done for everyone who takes part in the purifying process.
Hebrews 10:11-14 The Message
It’s that time again. Sigh. The time when many of us make plans for what we want to change this year, otherwise known as ‘resolutions’. Sigh. Why do we do this to ourselves? Who initiated this tradition of attempting to fix everything all at once, only to find that within a few weeks, it’s likely that we’ll have gone right back into our old habits?
Determination is what is supposed to produce the change we seek when we make resolutions. It’s a character quality that’s held in high esteem by our society. “She’s one determined young lady, she’ll be very successful” or “I am determined not to fail on this diet!” Why, then, after having a realization (“I need to write more letters to my family this year”) when we feel so determined, does little change take place?
It’s interesting when one takes a closer look at what determination really is. The Latin word is determinare, meaning ‘set limits to’, or ‘mark off a boundary’ (the law?). In contrast, ‘resolution’ in the Latin is from resolutionem meaning ‘a breaking into parts,’ or ‘the process of reducing things into simpler forms,’ both of which come from the stem of resolvere, meaning ‘loosen’. So, why are we setting limits and marking off boundaries for things that really need to be simplified and let go of?
Paul said this in another form in 1 Corinthians chapter 2: “You’ll remember, friends, that when I first came to you to let you in on God’s master stroke, I didn’t try to impress you with polished speeches and the latest philosophy. I deliberately kept it plain and simple: first Jesus and who he is; then Jesus and what he did—Jesus crucified.” Even more applicable to daily life, he said this in chapter 7, “I do want to point out, friends, that time is of the essence. There is no time to waste, so don’t complicate your lives unnecessarily. Keep it simple —in marriage, grief, joy, whatever. Even in ordinary things—your daily routines of shopping, and so on. Deal as sparingly as possible with the things the world thrusts on you. This world as you see it is on its way out.”
Rather than get determined and forceful with the thing in our lives that we realize needs changing, consequently becoming like a law-minded priest who offers the same useless sacrifice ‘year in and year out’, let’s try letting go of it, releasing it to our Father. Simplify, loosen, like “resolution” truly means. Imagine yourself holding the thing in your hand and opening your fingers to let go control of it or in your heart and letting God reach in and take it.
More than ‘every year’ even, each and every day let’s release our determination to “fix” ourselves, our self-set limits, and let God mold and change our hearts and lives. It’s a wonderful and mysterious thing what happens when we sit with our loving Father, receiving His Word for us. Time spent in the scriptures and in our journals is the only thing that will produce the change we seek. If there’s anything to be resolute about, it’s the daily practice of ‘letting go and letting God’. Then we are sure to see God produce in us true, eternal, perfect change.
…because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.
Hebrews 10:14
It might sound strange but God wants to find me as much as, if not more than, I want to find God….God is not the patriarch who stays home, doesn’t move and expects his children to come to him, apologize for their aberrant behavior, beg for forgiveness and promise to do better. To the contrary, he leaves the house, ignoring his dignity by running toward them, pays no heed to apologies and promises of change, and brings them to the table richly prepared for them.When I look through God’s eyes at my lost self and discover God’s joy at my coming home, then my life may become less anguished and more trusting.
Henri Nouwen, The Return of the Prodigal Son
“God wants to find me more than I want to find Him.” Love it. it would behoove me to turn my ideas of “doing all the searching” around to look at it from His perspective. He is the One looking for me (my heart) and I am the one responding (or not). There’s nothing to force, just Someone waiting for me to recognize.
I love how this is illustrated in the story of the prodigal son where the father seems to always have his eyes out to the far off places, looking for his son. As soon as the son comes into view, in the far distance, the father sees him and runs for him. This is our Father, always looking for us, even when we’ve been off eating slop. Waiting for us, then running to us as soon as we appear, even if it’s far off on the horizon.
I really like the background you’ve explained on the Latin for “resolution” and “determination”! What a beautiful, life-giving perspective….our loving Father is aggressively looking, seeking, wooing, waiting on me to turn so He can meet me right there. Simple is better. I used to think that when I found myself “far away” from Him that I needed to turn and “labor” my way back to where He was “patiently waiting” for me, back on the “right path”, back where I was “supposed to be”. Then He showed me in a journal that no matter where I find myself, He’s right there with me; my part is to turn and recognize and surrender and receive….to let Him fully have my heart right there, without any “effort” on my part to restore relationship…it’s all Him! I love Isaiah 30 about how He ” earnestly waits, expecting, looking, and longing to be gracious to me! “