You were made for God’s glory, to put God first in every aspect of your life. You are his representative in this place, in this time. The bible says that if you are in Christ then your life is not your own. Jesus summed up all of the commandments in these two: love God first, love others second. Not once does he say that he saved us so we could live self-focused lives. As we begin a new year full of hope, mighty expectations and incredible opportunity, let’s remember that it’s not about us. I was not made for ME, I was made for God. Instead of handing God a wish list for the year let’s hand him the title, the deed to our lives, full and free. It’s nice to have goals but when we focus entirely on ourselves we block God’s voice and direction and we lose sight of our intended ministry to the people in our lives that God wants us to love. In Ezekiel God explains how he wants to cleanse us, give us a new heart and put his Holy Spirit within us. He also explains WHY… for HIS sake, not for ours.
If you want a closer, more intimate relationship with God this year, let it be about him and those you are to love, not about yourself. That’s my new year’s resolution!
Ezekiel 36:22-32
“Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came. And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Lord GOD, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes. I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God. And I will deliver you from all your uncleannesses. And I will summon the grain and make it abundant and lay no famine upon you. I will make the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field abundant, that you may never again suffer the disgrace of famine among the nations. Then you will remember your evil ways, and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves for your iniquities and your abominations. It is not for your sake that I will act, declares the Lord GOD; let that be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel.
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