By Dr. Jack Graham
Do you make New Year’s resolutions? Whether you do or not, January is the perfect moment to pause and consider how to lay strong foundations for the year ahead … especially when it comes to your walk with the Lord.
Ask yourself what kind of year you want this to be. Will 2021 be a time when you draw closer to Jesus or drift away from Him? Because spiritually speaking, there’s no standing still … there’s no middle ground. We’re either moving toward Christ or away from Him. But before you get overwhelmed, let me encourage you that it’s not about coming up with our own plan to follow Jesus closely. It’s about surrendering to His.
If you remember Jesus’ familiar story of the wise and foolish builders, you’ll see what I mean.
The wise man built his house on the rock while the foolish man built his on the sand. And then the storms came … and you know how it ended for each of them!
So here’s the challenge: This year, will your life be built strongly on the rock-solid promises of God’s Word, enabling you to weather whatever trials may come your way? Or will your life be flimsy and fragile, built on the shifting sands of circumstance and status, liable to come crashing down when stormy seasons hit?
Of course, you’d choose the former! And wonderfully, Jesus tells us how to make it happen.
Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. —Matthew 7:24
According to Jesus, there are two keys to building wisely in the year ahead: hearing His Word and doing it!
So here’s my resolution. This year, I will hear God’s Word each day by opening the Bible and listening to Him speak. And I will do God’s Word as I live in prayerful obedience through the empowering of the Holy Spirit.
Will you make that your resolution, too?
Dr. Jack Graham is Pastor of Prestonwood Baptist Church, one of the largest and most dynamic churches in the country.