I Hereby Resolve
Guess we are all thinking, at least a little, about the year to come and what we would like to accomplish. It seems my thought process is different every year. Maybe, the difference is due to how tired I am vs. how much energy I have on the last day of the year. Some years I pick one thing I would like to accomplish during the new year. Sometimes I make a crazy list of resolutions ...which maybe are more like dreams than real plans. Looking back, those end of year resolutions are a good roadmap to the status of my head and heart each year.
This year, I read this blog post by Quinn McDonald, and I have been thinking about it for a couple weeks. I don't think it is a new concept, but it makes sense for me this year. Quinn suggests choosing one word for the year that will be a watchword, a goal, a direction. She says it should be a chewy word.
My chewy word is Redeem, which came to mind when I read this verse about the same time I read the blog post:
See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
Ephesians 5:15-16 (KJV)
From a more modern version:
Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.
A quick search of the greek word for redeeming (exagorazo), shows it to mean "to buy up for oneself." So, this is how I see it. Everything I have is God given, and I have much. How can I use what I have been given to make the most of those opportunities? I have been given health, intelligence, experiences, skills, time, and more. My hope is twofold: that I will come to recognize all of the gifts I have been given, and that I will find great ways to redeem them.
I will be thinking a lot about this in the coming days, but for now, Happy New Year!! I hear the fireworks in the distance and am glad I am not in Texas where they shoot guns.
How will I redeem my Vitamin C?
Stay tuned.
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1 creative thoughts:
i have chosen a verse. i actually chose it around thanksgiving but have decided to keep it around for 2012.
am also chewing on some other resolutions. one blogger i read is making monthly resolutions instead of an annual one. i like that too.
oh, and REDEEM is VERRRRRRRY chewy!
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