By Cindy Koch –

We’re on the brink of another new year. It’s exciting to think of the big changes that could happen. Maybe I’ll start that kitchen project I’ve put off for so long, or drop those 10 pounds. Maybe I’ll put a little more time into friendship or family. Success, prosperity, love—these are the things you strive for as the seconds tick along the timeline that continues from before you were.

But look ahead, my friend, a little more critically down the path of your years. The little projects that fill your time will never be done. There will always be another room to paint, another car to fix. Your figure will not quite be what you imagine it should be, and your wrinkles will continue to tell the stories of moments past. Family and friends will be near and far in ever-changing relationships that swell and smash your heart.

Many of the things you seek to change this time of year tumble around right back to where they began. Just when you think you have the momentum to make a difference, you come into contact with things that are way outside of your control. The endless decay, the hostile human will, the sinful reality that plagues every creature on this earth. Then your resolutions fail. You beat yourself up for missing another opportunity to make your life more meaningful. And your every good intention falls silent as the minutes count down, closer to the end of all things.

But look ahead, my friend, to the most essential resolution God has promised to you. Hearing the voice who called you out of darkness, you can already hope assuredly for what is to come. It’s exciting to think of the big changes that will happen. A multitude visibly seen, proudly marked by the blood of the Lamb. No more uncomfortable shame of who you are and what you believe. Loved ones alive with you shining in beautiful, healthy bodies. No more tears, fears, disappointments, or worries. The endless decay, the hostile human will, the sinful reality that plagues every creature on this earth—these things will pass away. Success, prosperity, love guaranteed for a time longer than any of us can even imagine.

And the best part of this new year is that there is nothing you can resolve to do about the things you can’t control. There is nothing you could possibly change about yourself or your life to include you in God’s resolution. This new and exciting life in 2019 and beyond already belongs to you. It has been your reality every single year since Christ stepped into our timeline. Instead of waiting on you to do the proper maintenance in your relationship with God, Christ lived as the perfect child for you. Instead of counting on you to make the right sacrifices, Christ gave up his life as the last sacrifice to the Father. All of the resolutions of God, not one of them was or is dependent on you. Everything hinges on the gracious gift of God’s own Son—born into our flesh, killed in our place to pay for our sin, risen from the dead to give us eternal life.

This year, resolve to simply enjoy His final and sure resolution for you.