I’ve never made a New Year’s resolution. There! I’ve confessed.

I’ve always thought them stupid. Still do. People make some big whuptodo about how they are going to stop doing stupid things or start doing smart things, overnight, instantly. Not gonna happen. Everyone knows it, so why act stupid and declare to everyone that you are going to fail miserably?

Allow me to digress for a moment . . .

I’ve been using the One Year Bible every day since January 8th, 2003. It began as a challenge:  attempt to read the Bible entirely in one year, one day at a time. A group of us decided to give it a whirl. Two amazing things happened. One: I did it. Two: it changed me. I antecipated #1; I was clotheslined by #2.

I’m on the last pages to complete year #4 of doing the same thing. Have done it consistently and intentionally for four years. That is amazing! What is stunning is that every time I read through the Word, I’m blown away by what I discover. I’m continually asking myself: “Didn’t I read this last year? I don’t remember this at all!” I find that my life situation modifies how I understand what I’m reading. The same message that helped me last year in a difficult scenario helps me this year in an entirely different setting. How did He manage to put it together so that it does that?

Coming back to stupid New Year resolutions: on my birthday recently I read the passages for that day. The Old Testament passage was the prophet Haggai.

Think carefully. I am giving you a promise now while the seed is still in the barn. You have not yet harvested your grain, and your grapevines, fig trees, pomegranates, and olive trees have not yet produced their crops. But from this day onward I will bless you.”   Haggai 2:18-19

The whole book shocked my world. These two verse were the real cattle prod.

So what’s this got to do with stupid New Year’s resolutions?

Any thought of making a life change resolution on my part has always fallen short if I was responsible for it. So, I’m not going to be. The Jesus-Giver insists that He’s big enough to take care of things. I’m going to take Him up on His word.

I’m going to do something really stupid. My stupid resolution is to not try to make things happen myself. He’s got the ball. My year is going to stand or fall because I’m letting Him call the shots, open the doors, slay the dragons, etc.

Is that stupid or what?!