Who Will Build Your House This Year?

“Unless the Lord builds the house,
They labor in vain who build it” (Psalm 127:1)

I want for you to be successful.  I want for your family to be well cared for and I want them to be blessed by your labors.

No matter how 2013 turned out for you and no matter what your past looks like, today is another chance and another opportunity for you to be successful.  And while it is true that each day is a new beginning, at no time is that more true than on the first day of a new year.

New Year’s Resolutions exist for precisely this reason.  We tell ourselves that this year, it is finally going to be different.  This year, I will finally lose that weight.  This year, I will finally kick that bad habit.  And this year, I will definitely be a better person.

We tend to make our resolutions with the best of intentions but how many of those resolutions based on good intentions actually succeed?  Can there be something better than good intentions for goal-setting and resolution making?

Or perhaps if you are like me and slightly cynical, you never plan to make New Year’s Resolutions at all.  You might say, as I once did, that they are a waste of time.  Why wait until January 1 to decide to be a better person if you can’t be bothered to go ahead and start today?  After all, if something is worth doing then shouldn’t we be giving it our best shot right now?

This is the excuse that I have used for years and it’s worked very well until just recently.  What I once thought of as a legitimate reason for staying away from New Year’s Resolutions was in fact just a fear of failure and an attitude of defeat.  After all, if I never even attempt something then I can’t very well say that I have failed at it, can I?

I can now say with certainty that this is not how God would have us live.  God wants bold sons and daughters who have founded their lives on the rock of His truth.  He wants men and women and boys and girls who are ready to live courageously and visibly for Him.

The truth is, God loves us and desires to be intimately included in all areas of our life.  And when we include Him and acknowledge Him in our plans, He blesses us and causes our plans to succeed.

The opposite is also true.  When we live our lives apart from God and walk in ways that seem wise to us we will inevitably fail.  We may have success for a time, or in some areas, but we will not truly be all that God desires for us unless we walk with Him.

So this year, right from January 1, I am dedicating my days to God and praying for guidance and success in all areas of my life.  I have some specific goals in mind that I will write down and pray about and this year I look forward to seeing how God answers those prayers.  He may change my mind about some of them and send me in a different direction altogether. That’s okay with me because I know that it will ultimately be for my benefit and His glory.

The truly wonderful thing about making a New Year’s Resolution that includes God and is based on His strength and character is that it cannot fail because He cannot fail.  So this year, let us follow the advice given in Psalm 127:1 and let the Lord build our houses and not try to do it in our own strength.  This is the true path of success and the only way to make a New Year’s Resolution that lasts.