God’s Plan for the New Year

by Dr. Paul Chappell

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.”

Romans 8:28–30

When the calendar rolls over to a new year, we have to remember to write a new date on documents, checks, and letters. But most things will not be any different because the calendar reads 2017 instead of 2016. And among the things that do not change is God’s overall purpose for our lives. His overarching purpose for us, established before the world was created, was that we would be like His Son.

Many people primarily focus on specifics when it comes to the will of God. Where should I live? What should I do for a living? But God’s primary focus is inward, not outward. He is far more concerned with our hearts than with our circumstances. “But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7).

Our focus needs to be first and foremost on being like Jesus. That will place us in God’s will. A. W. Tozer said, “The only fear I have is to fear to get out of the will of God. Outside of the will of God, there’s nothing I want, and in the will of God there’s nothing I fear, for God has sworn to keep me in His will.”

Today’s Growth Principle: 

Commit your life to being like Jesus, and you will live the coming year in the center of God’s will.