Be still and know that I am God. Psalm 46:10 (NLT)
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Eph. 2:8-10 (NIV)
Heavenly Father, on the last day of 2016, our hearts are filled with many thoughts and multiple emotions. What a complex, confusing, concerned-filled year it’s been—globally and locally.
But as much as we pray 2017 will be significantly different, the primary resolution we’ll make tonight is to abandon ourselves to Jesus—who is our “righteousness, sanctification, and redemption” (1 Cor. 1:30), “the ruler of the kings of the earth” (Rev. 1:5), and the Lord who is actively making “all things new” (Rev. 21:5).
Jesus is our only boast and riches, confidence and joy, sanity and peace. Some trust in horses and chariots, and some rely on resolutions and rededications; but our hope is built on nothing less, more, or other than Jesus, and his finished work on our behalf. The good work of salvation you began in us, you will complete for us. For so great and grace-full a salvation, we praise, bless, and adore you, Father.
During the past year, you were always faithful and loving, even when we questioned your ways and, at times, felt distant from your heart. You are always at work in all things, for your glory and for our good, even when we worry and whine. As we begin 2017, help us discern the good works you’ve prepared for us to walk in, for the benefit of our neighbors and community (Eph. 2:10).
Help us discern between the good and the best, the essential and the non-essential. What relationships would you have us invest more in more fully? What things and people must we simply release to you? In all things, make Jesus bigger and more beautiful in our gaze. Oh, that 2017 would be the year you would send him back. So very Amen we pray, in Jesus’ reigning and righteous name.
