So I am not always one for New Year’s Resolutions….I will sit and read my dear friends’ pithy blogs filled with insights and resolutions as the new year rings in.  And while I’d like to resolve to keep my closets clean, to shed a few pounds, to send birthday cards, and to get up earlier….it seems fruitless to make such claims. 

Then I thought about what I recently wrote in a note to a friend where I scrawled the following in the closing: “Wishing you God’s best in 2011.”  Sure, it was a “nice” way to conclude some good intentions, right?!  So what does that really mean?!  ......To wish one “God’s Best”....

Resolutions aside, and call it whatever you want, how can we seek to experience “God’s best” in 2011?  I want to know HIS HEART more deeply.  I want to embrace TRUTH and live out GRACE.  I don’t just want to write cunning cliches on my blog.  It seems that only when we obey Him do we truly get to know God’s heart for his children—-and while we may not always understand (or totally agree in our wayward hearts) we are experiencing his ultimate best for us.  I recently read the following: “God does not stand by at a distance, demanding our obedience.  Rather, He blesses us by allowing us to be a part of accomplishing His purposes.  He calls us to surrender, invites us to follow, empowers us to serve, and then [meets us in the midst of] our obedience.”  So, in light of a challenging sermon this morning, I want to commit to getting to know God’s heart.  I want to unpack what he has given us as his best.  I don’t want to check off a checklist, or read simply because I “should.”  I am blown away that the God of the universe has given us a glimpse of his plan, and I so often turn to others or other things.  With that said, I am seeking to savor his word in 2011.