New Year's Resolution

I only have one New Year's Resolution this year and it's simple in theory. I want to be committed to spending more time in the Bible. Not just reading to say I've read. Not marking time and reading the Bible through. Not skimming while thinking about other things. Not dozing off again and again. Really studying, learning, and applying the truths of the Bible to my life. Allowing the Truth to transform me from the inside out.

The Bible has an amazing ability to impact my personal life. I'm doing a study in Deuteronomy and the command to learn and obey and teach children as been repeated over and over. One of the first commands was "And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all they might." The focus, the priority is the relationship with God. If I love God, obedience is not an issue. The heart is what needs to be changed. Deuteronomy 5:29 says, "O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children forever." It's the heart. If my heart is wrong, everything is wrong. And if I love God my heart will not be wrong. I will have the right heart. The right heart always leads me to obey God. And obedience always brings blessings. (Deuteronomy 5:29; 6:3, 18)

All the other things that I want to accomplish this coming year will be mobilized by my time in the Bible. If I am seriously studying my Bible, then I will be better at obeying God's commands and that will transform the areas of my life that need change. If I am studying my Bible, I will have more wisdom as a wife, a mother, a homemaker, a worker at church. If I am studying my Bible, it will be easier to discipline myself to get up early, to exercise, to guard my tongue. I can focus on what will change my whole life instead of having a list of things to try to do on my own all year.

The Bible has all the answers for all the questions. Will you join me this year in committing to God's Word?