How to Make 2019 More Beautiful
01/08/2019 ..
As the Christmas decorations are being put away, many of us turn our attention to making New Year’s resolutions. We plan to eat healthy, exercise more, spend less time on Facebook or another activity to transform our lives. Yet most of us rarely make it past mid-January before our goals are abandoned and by mid-February, few of us even remember what we resolved to do.
That’s the problem with resolutions…we are desperate to be transformed, but we rely solely on our own power to change. To be truly transformed, most of us need a life line. The only life line that truly matters is Jesus. More of Him is all we need. More of Jesus and less of ourselves trying to muscle through this life. Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:9 gently reminds us, “’My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” We don’t need more resolve in 2019, we simply need more of Jesus.
In this new year, the only possibility of a new you is Jesus Christ within you. Only in his transforming power will fragility be turned into strength. Jesus is the sole force able to move our hearts. He is the only one capable to changing not just one single person, but the entire world.
Our habits won’t be changed without him. Our lives will be unsatisfying unless he is at the center of them. To make our 2019 more beautiful, we must embrace the beauty of the One who gives us the strength, guidance and grace to become more like him. We don’t need a resolution; we need the realization that to change, we must be with Jesus. Spend time with him. Wonder over his love, one deep enough to carry a rough hewn cross up a hill to Calvary, one profound enough to allow his hands to be pierced by nails, a love so unlimited that he died to give us new life. Only intimacy with Jesus results in our transformation.
When you anchor your life in Jesus, there is nothing that can overpower you. Even if 2019 holds impossible mountains, they can be scaled with him in your heart. His life line, his anchor within your heart is all you need. Our weakness stops us from turning resolutions into reality. But if we learn to seek him first, to hold steadfastly to him, his power will reform us day-by-day throughout the coming 365 days.