Reflections and resolutions on the occasion of another birthday

So it seems I blinked a couple of times and somehow another year flew by. And when I stopped and counted, I suddenly realized that without my being very aware of it happening, I've probably made it well past the midpoint of my life.


So it seems like a good time to thank God publicly for His grace in keeping me safe thus far, and to put in writing a few of the resolutions on which I'm focused on at this stage of my sojourning - and on which, by God's grace, I'm hoping to become still more focused.


So, without further ado, I offer the following notes to myself:


(1) Life goes by much faster than you think it's going to. Don't waste time with trivialities. Abandon yourself to the love of God. Live to know God's glory and to make it known.


(2) Life is not predictable or controllable. Stop trying to make it so. Seek to know and do God's will, and trust when things don't work out the way you think they should that He is good and is working all things for the good of those who love Him.


(3) Everything in this world is transient. Invest your transient possessions to build the eternal wealth of God's Kingdom.


(4) Life's too short to waste energy being different things to different people. Ask God to help you be the same person before God and all men.


(5) You will inevitably and constantly fail at doing these things. Remember that your eternal inheritance is secured not on the basis of your becoming all that you wish to be in this life, but on the basis of the perfect God-Man, Jesus the Messiah, who has already redeemed you from all your sin and will preserve you to the end.