New Year’s Resolutions

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.

John 14:12 (KJV)

Greater works – The New Year is here, not God’s designated New Year, but nevertheless January 1st is here. According to last year’s ComRes poll, the top 10 resolutions of 2017 were:

1. Exercise more (38 per cent)
2. Lose weight (33 per cent)
3. Eat more healthy (32 per cent)
4. Take a more active approach to health (15 per cent)
5. Learn new skill or hobby (15 per cent)
6. Spend more time on personal wellbeing (12 per cent)
7. Spend more time with family and friends (12 per cent)
8. Drink less alcohol (12 per cent)
9. Stop smoking (9 per cent)
10. Other (1 per cent)

These were the great works most people hoped to achieve in 2017. There are a couple of things I’d like to examine here.

Most of these resolutions are “self” focused

The top 6 are all about the individual, as are two others. What are ways that I can improve myself? These address that concern. But a resolution is a firm decision to do or not do something. It’s the action of solving a problem. To do or not do something to solve a problem doesn’t mean it has to be a problem about myself. It can be any problem. It can be about someone you love, people in need, or problems that hinder the environment.

These resolutions are relatively small

Think about what I just mentioned about solving a problem that isn’t yours. The problem immediately becomes greater. It involves other people that may not be accountable to you, and it involves situations you may not have control over. That can be daunting, and is probably why most people tend to focus on themselves.

A colleague of mine has one impossible task on her list of things to do specifically to help her remember this. Currently it’s to solve world hunger. That’s impossible for her to do alone, but it keeps her focused on greater works. It helps her understand that we need a community of people to take action and make things happen.

What will your resolutions be?

Yeshua has been encouraging us to do greater works than He did for millennia now. John recorded His words right there. A believer in Yeshua will do greater works than Yeshua Himself. Remember this.

So now with the New Year here, go ahead and make your resolutions and try to remedy those self-focused problems, but don’t forget to do something mega. Mega is HUGE, and the words “greater works” come from the Greek root here megas. It’s possible. You have the power of the Holy Spirit and can achieve miracles.

But to get there, you need to start at the bottom. Notice that the greater works are all about other people. It’s not about you. Only through humility will we achieve those megas works. Become a servant first, as Yeshua did, and the great works will quickly follow.