I can be awfully cynical. If someone tells me about their resolutions, I congratulate them, try to be supportive, but at the back of my mind I’m guessing how long it will be before they fall back into their old habits. I suppose that I’m wagering with the statistical life-data I have recorded for the past few decades. They’ve failed before – I’ve failed before – and we’ll fail again.

What if this time, it really is different? What if for the first time, we’ve decided to trust God, to live our lives for him, and allow him to be our guide? How would that change things? I’ve thought about where my cynicism comes from. I wondered if it comes from a lack of faith of people, or a lack in faith in God?  I know in my own life, that for God to be able to change me, it really starts with me. That’s the freedom of choice that he gives us. We can choose to follow God or ignore him – we’re not forced.  Yet it’s a continuous choice. Pastor Zedick mentioned in other sermons that God doesn’t give us the birds-eye view when we choose to follow him. He usually just gives us enough guidance for the day, and we continually make the choice to listen to God. Which also means that there’s a good chance that we’ll go in the wrong direction at some point. What it comes down to is this; I’m cynical because I’ve seen my own failures, even after choosing to follow God. I question other’s resolves because I question my own.

I know that Christ dying on the cross allows us to be in God’s presence, if we choose to accept it. What I don’t always see is that we’re strong enough to follow God. Yet when we choose to follow God, we are not alone. God gives us the strength to follow him. Our faith should not only be in God, but should also be in the people that choose to follow him, because if they follow God, they’re lives can be transformed. Here the full sermon here.