25-26 “If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it follows that you don’t fuss about what’s on the table at mealtimes or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds.
27-29 “Has anyone by fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? All this time and money wasted on fashion—do you think it makes that much difference? Instead of looking at the fashions, walk out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them.
30-33 “If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met."- Matthew 6:25-33
I always give up my New Years Resolutions for Lent, so I usually set the bar high knowing I only have to comply for a few months. But how often do we use New Years as our starting point in our race for perfection, only to be disappointed when we can't survive on celery and peppermints or make it through the 10 pottery classes we swore we would really get into? In the 24 hours from December 31st to January 1st we do not gain any additional willpower or desire to become someone new. We are the exact same person. And so often we try to change ourselves by our own strength into a person we weren't meant to be.
Jesus doesn't need 365 days to work on you. He needs your whole life and your whole heart. And if those two things are cluttered by other desires to become someone else, Jesus' work on you will become overshadowed by the fancy jars and potions this world offers.
Jesus made you perfectly. You are fearfully and wonderfully made. You have room to grow and things to work on, but why not let Jesus help you this year rather than trying to do it yourself.
This year let’s make a resolution to have no resolutions, but to let Jesus work through us so we may become exactly who he intended us to be. Health and fitness are important, but if our goal is to allow Jesus to work on us and mold us, care for ourselves will come naturally as a reflex to nurturing the body He gave us.
We have so much room to improve and so much to look forward to in our walk with Jesus, so let's enjoy it this year, with no diet or exercise plan to distract us.
Jesus is allergic to celery anyways.