GOD'S NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS

As we approach every New Year, it has become an obvious ritual for most people to formulate resolutions which are their plans for that particular 365/6 day duration. I happened not to have resolved to do anything in particular this year apart from writing more articles for my unknown readers. Not that I subscribe to the unfocused lot, neither am I planning to fail since that’s said to be the destiny of those who fail to plan ahead of time.

It’s only that more often than not we fail to abide by those resolutions anyway. Apart from the palpable goals I have for this year, I realized how fortunate I am being a member of a bible study group which has helped me note what I should be doing at a personal level in 2011.

Experiencing God happens to be the theme of the bible study for the coming three months. When the study manual was unveiled last Friday for the fast time, it dawned on me what should be my key spiritual resolution for this year.
Being born again is one thing but walking the talk is totally a different thing. If I can quote this Sunday’s preacher, “Many of the people baptized have one thing in common. If you have been keen, they leave the stream smiling as a confirmation of the new sense of peace and joy they have undergone by the act of accepting Jesus as their Lord and savior. But that is expected of them because of the naivety that explains their inability to see the apparent call for commitment and the challenges that lies ahead…..”

At that particular point one is like a young person eager to graduate from high school or to become an adult unaware of the responsibility that comes with the acquired status. “Salvation is a process and not a onetime event” When we are called by a God who took and still takes the initiative to save, he expects us to walk with him from the beginning of the relationship onwards. Unfortunately, we miss out on God when we backslide and start following our own maps later to wonder whether it is God calling us cause we hardly recognize His voice.

Out of the introduction of this theme, a number of points came out strongly to me. One of them was the fact that God desires an intimate relationship with us. Another was the fact that when we are called, we surrender the control button and the steering wheel of our lives to a God who knows our destiny better than we do.

As the day’s study came to an end, the pastor shared his thoughts on the communication channels in the new partnership between God and us. This triggered a question that offered food for thought and entered my New Year resolutions list as the main spiritual agenda for the year.

The question was; how can one discern whether it is God speaking to us or it’s the forces of darkness trying to win one to their side? It is a fact that both spirits do work to win converts to their side. This reminded me of a skit role play where a guy contemplates stealing but he gets to hear the Holy Spirit warning him not to do so while on the other hand the devil is also convincing him that there is nothing wrong with the act. Both sides are trying to make sense of what they deem the right thing our guy in question should do.

I loved the response from our study instructor. The analogy he used was simple, practical and to the point. It brought out clearly how personal our relationship with God should be for us to experience Him. “How many of you know Museveni (the president of Uganda)?” he asked. Everyone raised their hands. “Who amongst you is known to Museveni?” he went on. There was grave like silence in the room while mouths were now curved into smiles followed by side to side movements.

“In case your best friend called you on an unknown number, will you be able to recognize who they are on hearing the first words they uttered without disclosing their identity?” came another question. There followed a number of related questions that left our minds pondering the subject experiencing God at a personal level.

From the day’s study, it came out clearly that experiencing God implies relating with Him the way we do share with our closest friends. We should be able to know when he is talking to us, learn to trust Him with our secrets, consult Him when we need advice and follow His direction like we do with our best trusted friend. Best friends know each other’s voice, ways of doing things and can distinguish each other from a far off distance.

Many times we want to write down plans and New Year resolutions which we later invite God to join and endorse. God is calling us to discover what His plans for us are this year. It’s a question of trusting God and riding in His bandwagon other than telling God. “…Dear God I have some plans here which need your approval…”

Happy New Year to all of you. May we seek to experience God through a personal relationship of studying His word and listening to what His plans are for us this year.