You're Invited (part 2)

I have come to the conclusion that the popular tradition of making New Year's resolutions is actually a prescription of my own charlatan-efforts to peddle a self-remedy.  The statistics show that a successfully maintained New Year's resolution has more in common with the stuff of fairytales than real, effective discipline and growth.  Evaluation, making adjustments and coming up with a personal development plan are all healthy practices when they are undertaken with a clear understanding of who I am and where the roots of my issues really lie.  If I take a shortcut, skating over the ice encrusting my cold, broken heart then I will never benefit from any resolution.  After a while the pride and the fear of shame cease to motivate.  Even if I am still going to the gym or if I decide to follow the advice of well-meaning friends and put myself "out there" more intentionally with the hope of finding a mate, after the first month when I fail to see any sign of the longed-for results, I begin to taste the bitterness of disappointment once again.  My efforts to solve my problems apart from honesty, truth and vulnerability are fruitless.  

So what can I do to see real, abundant fruit that I long for in my life? It starts with accepting those divine invitations to explore the roots in my heart when prickly reactions pop up in response to  everyday events. I have to remember my identity and choose to walk in it - by faith, not by feeling. Any plans for changing habits, developing new skills or achieving desired outcomes have to be motivated by love for Jesus and a surrender to His perfect will for my life. Attempting to take control of circumstances which are beyond my control are a form of idolatry where I become the grotesque, impotent statue sitting on the throne of my heart's kingdom. Sound ridiculous? It is. 

Instead of making a New Year's Resolution I want you to accept a New Year's Invitation. It is an invitation to say, "Yes!" to the Holy Spirit when your own heart reveals a bitter root.  Live out the reality of Jesus's words, "Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing." I hope you will say yes. This is what it means to abide in Christ.  You won't see the fruit you long for in your life any other way.

As for me, I have decided to respond.  I am looking forward to the invitations that are coming my way.  The “Save the Date” for my friend’s wedding is hanging prominently on my refrigerator.  It serves as more than just a reminder for my calendar.  It reminds me to check the soil of my heart for bitterness.  If I can look at the lovebirds without a sense of joy and happiness for them, then there is a little more gardening that needs to be done. I am not abiding in my Vine and the fruit I expect to harvest in the days ahead won’t appear. I am reminded that gardening is a never-ending process.  Any gardener will tell you that it takes patience, hard work, diligence, and then, the results are awe-inspiring and miraculous.  My prayer is that we would not let our hearts stay hardened and that we would never forget that we are not our own gardener.  There is a Gardener, there is a Vine, and we are the branches that get to see the fruit burst forth from us.  

About Cheryl

Cheryl is on staff with Cru where she currently serves with digital strategies and in launching a new ministry among Millennials in cities across the country. For 12 years she called Russia home as she helped give national leadership to the campus ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ.

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