The weeks after Christmas Day can be surreal. It is almost as if the chaotic build up of the previous month’s craziness hits an anti-climatic apex and we are catapulted into having to look towards the fast approaching New Year.

The trivial questions of what should I get for my Dad (apart from dodgy socks), shifts towards weightier questions such as “where am I going in life?” & “what are my goals this year?”

We call them “resolutions”, but this title can often carry negative connotations. A resolution is something we do whole-heartedly for about a week only to become discouraged and revert back to the habits we were determined to escape. Like many others, I have been reflecting on my personal goals for the year; I want to improve my golf, develop my organization skills and be more patient behind the wheel of a car. All these things are good goals and worth pursuing.

I recently watched a video on yesheis from a Francis Chan sermon (see below). He questions the insanity of investing all our efforts and energy into pursuing the momentary pleasures of life and how we need to remember that there is an eternal aspect, that we often forget. Deeply challenged, I felt the need to stop and reassess the motivations behind my goals for 2016. Why do I want to achieve the things I do? Are they so I feel better about myself, or so my peers hold me in higher esteem, is there a little bit of me trying to grow my empire when I should be investing my all to grow God’s kingdom and ultimately glorify God?

http://www.show2.me/zqVbZNZOZNZN

There’s a profound line in the film Gladiator, Maximus Decimus Meridius, (played by Russell Crowe) is motivating his troops to put their lives on the line by telling them that “what we do in life echoes in eternity”.

Russell Crowe’s words are spoken in to point the solders towards the bigger picture, in order to remind of their importance in the Roman Empire’s success. These words are not an original concept created by Hollywood but can be found in the Bible. The apostle Paul similarly sought to encourage the Church in Corinth to keep their focus and persist amidst hardships by calling the believers to focus upon the eternal picture, rather than the short term.

“…So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

2 Corinthians 4:16-18

Since discovering that I need to view life through the ‘eternal spectacles’ most of my resolutions for the year actually haven’t changed but the motivations behind doing them have. For example, I still want to become a golf ninja but instead of focusing on my progress, I want to use the time on the golf course to meet and play with non-Christians in the hope that I get opportunities to share my faith and invite at least one person on an alpha course.

I pray that God gives you a big vision for 2016, that you will find new ways of using your passion for God and his kingdom and that you will see all things through the lenses of eternity.