Most people I know, if you were to ask them, would tell you that they don’t believe in New Year’s resolutions. Yet most people will admit that in general for the new year, they do resolve to be better persons. This thought of being a better person can mean different things for each person. Some just want to spend more time with loved ones; others might want to find a more rewarding job; still others might wish to finally be debt free by the end of the coming year.
Each person’s hope for the new year is based on a resolve to have a more meaningful life. God also wants each of us to live a life of meaning. He wants us to live life to the fullest. To that end He has given us some great guidelines in the Bible for making our lives more worthy.
A great place to start would be in Micah. Here He says, “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8 NASB) It cannot be said more simply. A meaningful life requires one “to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.”
There are other aspects of one’s walk with God that requires submission if one is to live an abundant and meaningful life. One aspect is found in Malachi. Here God gives this warning and promise: “”Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, ‘How have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing Me, the whole nation of you! Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this, says the Lord of hosts, ‘if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.'”(Malachi 3:8-10 NASB). Regular and joyful tithing will add meaning to your life.
God also wants us to study His Word. “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16, 17 NASB). Micah tells us to do justice, then 2 Timothy tells us how; by studying Scripture. Doing so will make one “adequate, equipped for every good work.” If done on a daily basis, reading God’s Word will add meaning to life.
Prayer is another part of walking with God that adds meaning to life. James writes, “But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”(James 1:5-8 NASB)
Paul writes, “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NIV84). God’s will for us is to ask; to pray. Not just occasionally, but continually; at all times and in every circumstance. It is through prayer that we receive all that we need to live a life of meaning; a life given to the will of God.
These verses are only a small portion of what the Bible gives us to add meaning to our lives. The truth is that if we do not do these things, not only will one’s life not have meaning, but what we have will eventually die. Jesus warned us of this. “Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God. (Revelation 3:2 NIV84)
Make your life complete. Do the will of God and your life will have meaning. Make this more than just a resolution for the New Year; make it a way of life. “So Jesus said to them again, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.’” (John 10:7-10 NASB)
Enter life through Jesus, for it is through Him that we can live life abundantly! And it is only through Him that life can truly have meaning.