It’s the most wonderful time, of the year!. There will be marshmallows for melting, pecan pies to be losing, and snow angels replaced by jumping jacks in the snow. Well, at least that’s the way the song goes for your local gym owner. The winter solstice has passed, the holidays are over, and it is time for everyone to go on social media and pretend they are going to get it shape!
Admittedly there is some small fraction of us who actually go through with it! But gym owners know they can overbook January because by Valentine’s Day, there will be chocolates and, for some reason, those candy hearts made of Tums. I love those things. Those vows made in public slide into the background as March comes along.
But there is a serious point to be made here. Christians are to be men and women of their word. A resolution that is proclaimed to all who hear is a promise made. It is a vow entered into. Not only are Christians forbidden from telling an untruth, but we need to consider God. If we have the Spirit of God, we are to be truthful to our core in the same way the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is. In Proverbs chapter six, our Creator describes th effect of a lying tongue and the destruction it brings:
“A worthless person, a wicked man, goes about with crooked speech, winks with his eyes, signals with his feet, points with his finger, with perverted heart devises evil, continually sowing discord; therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly; in a moment he will be broken beyond healing.”-Proverbs 6:12-15
There is genuinely strong language from the LORD here. Lies pervert the heart and brins discord among brethren. We may look at a falsehood here or there in our own lives and think, “O! those are just little white lies!” God mentions six things he hates and two of them are lying! (Proverbs 6:16-19)
Please don’t get me wrong, I am not, “anti resolution!” Just make sure you are not invoking the name of God to add legitimacy to your attempt and say something you do not mean.
We are to respect God and honor his name (Exodus 20:16). To use the name of God as a seal on your vow is to use the Lord’s name as just another guarantee for a statement you don’t intend to stand by. When James tells us to, “let your ‘yes’ be yes and your ‘no’ be no.”-James 5:12. It is not just a prohibition on lying. The brother of our Lord is saying, we should live lives of respectable character that extend the truth of Christ into our day-to-day language. Be so trustworthy, you have no need or “reinforcing your promise.” With a vow.
Solomon, the king of Israel and son of David the king says this about casual promises. “Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few. When you vow a vow to God, do not delay paying it, for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you vow. 5 It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay.”-Ecclesiastes 5:2, 4-5.
Set goals for 2026. Ask people to join you in reaching them. Having a friend and supporter along the way may be good enough for an extra five-points of weight loss.
A resolution is just another way to say “promise.” Our God is, and was not, shy about vowing to do something. In fact our salvation is based on the promise God made to a man and woman past the age of childbearing and with no hope for children. Abraham was nearly 100-years old, when God made a promise to give him, not only a child, but a baby with a lineage to include Moses, David, and Jesus. To have the faith of Abraham is to believe God’s promises to be true. Praise his name God is true and his promises bring eternal life! And you can’t get or lose that at the gym!
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