Are you looking for a better year?

Romans 6:13–14 13 Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. 14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

As we face the start of another year, the thought many will have is, “I hope this will be a better year.” In what sense do we desire a “better” year? Does it mean that we hope we make good career decisions? Do we want people to like us more? Could we be kinder toward others? Is it a desire for improved health and weight loss?

Some will determine they want to have a better year in a more “spiritual” sense. So, there will be renewed commitments to Bible reading programs and prayer times. There may be efforts toward faithful church attendance, participating in Bible studies or small group participation. A few will plan to take a mission trip or resolve to be more evangelistically sensitive.

Many of these are good desires and helpful plans for focusing one’s efforts to be productive. But what if we stop focusing on what we will do to have a better year? If we understand Paul’s instructions above from Romans 6, instead of focusing on what we do to make things better or to earn more favor, we need to consistently refresh our hearts by presenting ourselves to God to receive the flow of His grace and truth.

As Paul explains in this text, before experiencing new life in Christ, we were naturally self-centered and sought satisfaction through personal gratification in a variety of ways. This self-focus can have both religious and rebellious expressions. But none of them are honoring to God as the Giver of grace.

Through the gift of spiritual life, our longings and desires change. The Holy Spirit consistently prompts us to present ourselves to receive the flow of God’s enabling grace. We are realizing with greater regularity the need to be intentional about consciously depending on the work Jesus continues to do to make us right with God. We have new hopes and abilities flowing to us from spiritual life in Christ. Instead of focusing on what we do, we are to focus on receiving God’s grace that conforms us to the image of Jesus. We are not under the law of doing but under the grace of receiving. What we receive empowers us to do all we do to the glory of God, because we realize it is His grace at work within us pressing us into resources and image of Jesus.

Ask God for a heart to trust the promise that God will enable you to receive His grace in times of need. Look to Him rather than focusing on yourself. The power of grace is something God inspires the Apostle Paul to be confident in and something God can inspire you to be confident in as well. Paul assures the believers in Philippi, “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:6)

In all that you pursue, you will have a better year if you stay focused on God’s grace and the flow of His resources He promises to supply you in Jesus. May our desire for a better year be united with intention of the Apostle Paul in Colossians 1:29. “For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.”