New Years Resolution

January 1st is one of my favorite times of year. It is a time of so much promise, a time to look back on all that was wrong with the previous year and a time to start over. Logically, I think how arbitrary it is that this particular day is the one that allows you to change yourself, how we should constantly be making these types of decisions and not putting them off till January, and how delaying making that decision is really procrastination and generally these changes won't actually happen. But that doesn't take away from this time. New Years is the perfect opportunity because it symbolizes going from the old year, the past, and stepping into the future. If you're like me at all, you did not live up to the promises of last year, that the hopes and dreams that excited you at the beginning of 2010 were drowned out by the day-to-day problems and circumstances that seem to plague our existence. But none of those problems or circumstances are relevant on the first day of January. They seem to not even exist as we decide to loose weight, read the bible more, get to the gym regularly, or whatever other goal you have made for yourself. This is they way it should be, we should not be constrained by the day-to-day grind when forming our dreams and goals.

1st Corinthians 10:31 states "Therefore, whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." We are called to live lives that are completely and utterly devoted to the glory of God, and the fame of His name. The thing that I consider most worthless over the last year and in reality over the course of my life is that I have always been living for the glory of my own name. I am constantly concerned with myself, my needs, recognition for what I have done, and wanting people to appreciate and depend upon me, and this is such a waste of time, money, energy, and ultimately such a waste of my life. The longing of my heart is eternal glory, but that longing is misplaced on the wrong object. It is God that I should be concerned with, God that should consume my thoughts, and God's glory that should be the entire focus of my life. And there is nothing that the daily grind should be able to do to drive that from my focus.

I want my life to have the same singular focus that David expresses in Psalm 27: "(vs 4) One thing have I desired, that will I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple." I want to live by this "one thing" mentality, that my life would not be distracted by many things but that it would be defined by one all-consuming passion. Not in some legalistic, confining, law-centered way, but through the love, relationship-centered, freeing grace that is given to us through the Holy Spirit by the hand of God Himself. I want people to be able to look at my life and say, whether they see it as good or not, that I am a disciple of Christ Jesus  and that my life truly reflects His life purpose.  I want my life to be so marked by the fact that Jesus is my Lord and Savior that there would be no doubt in the minds of anyone I come in contact with about whom I serve and who I am devoted to. I don't want to be distracted with the accolades of men, I don't want to be sucked into the pride that comes with leadership or great deeds, I don't want to even have the greatness of my own name to be considered, I want everything I say and do and not do to point to the everlasting, all-powerful Creator and Savior that has so ingrained Himself in my being that "it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me (Gal 2:20)." This is the cry of my heart, this is what I long for. I'm nowhere near this point yet, but that is what the bible and God Himself calls me to be, and this is what I strive for. I'm tired of a complacent, man-centered "Christianity," I want something more!

I also want to describe to you here the theme for Campus Ventures at UW for this next semester. The theme is "Living Life on Purpose." We don't want students to live their lives based on a purpose that they are given by their parents, society, school, or any other worldly source, we want students to find the true purpose which God has called them to and to radically devote their lives to it. The world, and the west in general, has more than enough "Christians" by name alone; what the world desperately needs and is seeking for are people who will allow the Gospel of Christ to interrupt their plans and place them on a path that will extend the kingdom of God in their own lives and the lives of every person on the planet. We are seeking during this semester to bring people to a place where they are actually seeking the purpose that their lives have been devoted to and to change that purpose, through prayer and study of the word by the Holy Spirit, to a God-centered understanding of how they are to live their lives. We are not asking people to give up becoming teachers and doctors to become foreign missionaries; our prayer and desire is to bring students to a place where they will give up their ambitions and plans and fully embrace the journey and calling that the Lord has placed on their lives. We don't want them to settle for their best, but we want them to go after God's abundance. We will be doing this by describing how to seek God in many aspects of life, including how we spend our time, what we do with our money, how we handle relationships, and how to go after God's glory in the workplace. And again, the ultimate goal for us is to have students come away with an understanding of what their life purpose is, to be convicted if it isn't in the right place, and to be encouraged to follow God through whatever trial, tribulation, difficulty, or obstacle that may impede them, to rely on His grace to get them through, and to encourage others along their journey to proclaim the glory of God in whatever way God has lead them to proclaim it.

This is going to be an exciting year for me and for CV. I'm honored and privileged to be a part of what God is doing here at the University of Wyoming and in my own personal life. I pray that throughout this year these goals will never diminish, that my devotion will never waver, and that through this next semester the body of believers at UW will become recklessly abandoned to Jesus, the cross, and His unmatched, unequaled glory on this campus, in this city, and throughout this world. Amen.