^“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth” (Timothy 2:15).  

It’s resolution-making time, and one of my favorite times of the year. I have always enjoyed looking forward, making plans, and visualizing goals. Although I am not so good at evaluating progress or always following through, I do honestly believe that I do better than I would have done by the practice of setting goals. I guess it’s a sign of my age that my goals don’t dramatically change, and even become more “ordinary,” over time. But I also think that as I get older and “settle down” the main thing becomes the main thing, if you know what I mean.

The verse referenced above is my main verse to support three of my goals for this year.

1. To please God in everything that I say, do, and think in all my roles and relationships. “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving” (Colossians 3:23-24).

• To have no regrets/leave nothing on the table when it comes to my service at Nashville Rescue Mission. “Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people, because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good they do, whether they are slave or free” (Ephesians 6:7-8).

• To know and teach God’s Word truthfully and effectively. Only by knowing God’s word do we have the ability to discern what is truth and what is false, what is worldly and what is eternal. We can deduce that there must be a Creator when we observe creation; but we cannot know how to be reconciled with our Creator unless we hear and experience His Word to us, the gospel. “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith’” (Romans 1:16-17).

These are not necessarily new goals for me, but my motivation has changed over time. I’ve always wanted to be well thought of. I’ve wanted to do good, to be good. I’ve always loved and admired the Bible. But increasingly, what I long for is to know Jesus, to be known by Jesus, and to make Him known. This is the main thing.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, my prayer for you as we move into the new year is taken directly from the words of Jesus in John 17 as he prayed for himself, for his disciples, and for all believers just prior to his arrest and death on the cross for our sins:

“Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made youknown to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”  (John 17:3; 25-26).

In Christ,

Judy