Resolute – possessing determination and purposefulness.

The word “resolute” is a term of strength and resolve. It’s funny how the word “resolution” has a much weaker connotation in our vernacular today. I once read that by February, most people can’t even remember what New Year’s Resolutions they made. For many of us, it seems the lifespan of our determination and purposefulness is about two weeks.

I’ve never been big on New Year’s Resolutions. Some would say I lack the determination to see my goals to fruition. Some would say I fail to set proper goals for myself. I guess I consider myself a realist; I’m not going to make some far-fetched goal for myself that I know I have absolutely no hope of achieving. Plus, I’m just lazy.

But this year, after talking with Sunny and some good friends about their resolutions, I’ve come up with one. Just one resolution. But this one resolution is a multi-faceted with far-reaching implications for how I will live the next 12 months. And as I sit here on the second day of the year, I already have my doubts about how well I’ll fare. Nonetheless, here’s my resolution for 2006:

To be healthy.

That’s it. Healthy. But make no mistake: I’m not merely concerned with improving my physical health (although that’s definitely part of the motivation). Like I said, this is a multi-pronged resolution. The goal is to be healthy in all areas of my life. In 2006, I’m making a commitment to being more physically, socially & spiritually healthy.

The physical health goals were pretty easy to come up with. I want to be more active. I want to take more walks with Sunny and the kids. I’m not going to eat any fast food. I want to drink more water, less Mountain Dew. (I’m not going to get too crazy and give up soft drinks altogether!) I’m going to try for 50 push-ups a day. And I want to run (a yet to be determined distance) at least twice a week. I don’t have a definite amount of weight to lose – I simply want to be more physically healthy this year.

Let me define what I mean by social health. I want to contribute toward making the world a better place. I want to be more socially active. I’ve used this page to talk about the great ministry of organizations like World Vision, an entity committed to creating opportunities for the orphaned and abandoned of the world. Other organizations like Amnesty International and the One Campaign champion causes I similarly believe in. For me, being socially healthy means continuing to be active in causes that create better lives for the less fortunate members of our world.

Being spiritually healthy is my primary concern. I’m talking about more than a cursory resolution to pray more or read my Bible more. I’ve tried that before, reading Genesis and Exodus with a furious voracity only to hit a wall in Levitucs and Numbers. In my experience, such resolutions have more to do with my ability to pull myself up by my own spiritual bootstraps than anything else. There’s no grace in that. The quantity of Scripture we read is important, no doubt, but I crave an experience of the Living Word, too. It’s less about how much Scripture I read and more about how much Scripture I live. I want to know God more in ’06. I want to come to a deeper understanding of His will for me and my life. I want to see Him at work in even greater ways. I want Him to become a real presence to my children. I need His Spirit to lead me to finally embrace my role as the spiritual head of my family. I need the strength only He can provide to keep me from any spiritually unhealthy conversations. I want to be His vessel, that He would use me for His purposes for the glory of His name. I want to model Kingdom living for all I come in contact with. These are the indicators of a spiritually healthy individual.

Whatever your resolutions are, may you be resolute in your commitments to live more healthily in the upcoming year. But I know that no matter how resolute I am, my weaknesses and inconsistencies and lack of self-control will continue to be obstacles for me. And yet, in those moments, we lean on I AM to give purpose to our lives, to be our strength in times of weakness. May this year honor you, O Lord.