SCF Senior Church Leader, Chris Doig, provides our New Year blog with a message about New Year resolutions.

Have you decided on some New Year’s resolutions yet? Maybe you have, and you’ve got it all worked out! I must admit that I’m not a great one for them. Maybe it’s because in the dim and distant past, which I can hardly remember, I decided on some resolutions which didn’t last more than a couple of weeks. However, if New Year’s resolutions work for you – don’t let me put you off. If you’ve determined to jog round Furzton Lake every morning before work in the coming year – don’t let me discourage you!

New year’s resolutions can be a good thing but Christianity is less about us trying to be better through our own efforts and more about us receiving God’s forgiveness and help. Most people think it’s about trying hard, but really it’s about trusting God. If you realise you don’t know much about Jesus and the Christian message, maybe your New Year’s resolution could be to find out? You could go on an Alpha course for example, or you can find out more at www.rejesus.com.

What about New Year’s resolutions if you are already a Christian? Surely it’s a good thing to say to myself: ‘I will work harder at my Christian life in 2012?’

Well, that can be good – but don’t get sidetracked into a cul-de-sac. If deep down we are thinking – ‘if I work harder at being a Christian, then Jesus will love me more’, then we’ve got off track. Incredibly, He just loves me, and that is based on His amazing grace, rather than any amount of effort I put in. Or if I think to myself: ‘if every day next year I spend X number of minutes with Him, then I will really grow’ – then that might be good, but beware of falling into a trap.

God in Christ has made incredible resources available to us as His children. He wants us to connect with and to experience those blessings and resources. But the emphasis is not to be on our effort, but on the attitude of looking to Him. Remember what Jesus said to us about abiding in the vine – keeping connected to Him, resting in Him and relying on Him, that we might know His life within us.

With that in mind, it will definitely be very helpful to say to myself – ‘I really do want to spend more time alone with Him’ – experiencing the wonder of His presence. It puts the emphasis more on what He wants to do, than what I can achieve.

Similarly with connecting with God’s people: it’s not that by going to more and more meetings I will necessarily grow, but it is in recognising that part of the key to experiencing His abundant life is to connect regularly with others of His family. Are you doing that?

So don’t put the emphasis on what you’re going to do. Instead, think about His incredible promises, and let’s put ourselves in the place where we can receive all that He wants to give us.

May we know more than ever of Christ’s life and blessing in 2012.