Resolved...

As the clocks mark the passing of the first hours and days of a new decade, many people are making resolutions for the coming year. They are resolved to lose weight, to exercise more, to read the Bible regularly, to spend more time with family, and so on.

I have to admit, some of my goals for 2010 are similar. I, too, plan to read through the Bible again and aspire to lose the baby weight that has frustratingly and firmly taken up residence on my hips.

As I mentioned here, one of my random personal traditions is that each year on my birthday I reread the resolutions of Jonathan Edwards, most of which he penned at age nineteen and read every week for the rest of his life. Though it's a lengthy (at at times cumbersome) list, every time I read it, God speaks to my heart on at least one of these resolutions and shows me how I fall short and desperately need Him to help me become more Christlike in that area.

Putting together my goals for the coming year, I thought it appropriate to reread Edwards's resolutions. Tomorrow, I'll share with you which resolution hit home for me this year--and how it relates to our family's theme verse for 2010.

But for now, I want you to have the opportunity to read these resolutions for yourself. Though you may not agree with all of them (after all, most of us have been known to crack a joke on Sundays, unlike #38!), if you read these resolutions thoughtfully and prayerfully, you just might be surprised at what God might whisper in your own heart about what He has in store for you in 2010.

Happy New Year!