More Like Jesus in 2021?

 

I don't know about you, but my resolve to make New Year's resolutions just isn't there for 2021. I suppose that getting the COVID-19 vaccines is a priority, but I'll wait my turn. Staying alive seems like a worthwhile goal, so I'll endeavour to keep up the 3 W's: Wear my mask, Watch my distance, and Wash my hands.I'll do my best to be kind and generous to others, especially those who are most vulnerable because of the pandemic. I want to be supportive of my Christian community and to look outward when the temptation is to be focused inward.  

I like Len Sweet.s desire to be more like Jesus in 2021, which could be a resolution every year. I make it a point not to fall asleep in my kayak or my canoe, because the outcome could be unpleasant, but I'm already a fan of dry-land naps. While I'm tempted to stop there, some of the other points are great. We we may need a few months for the "hanging out" part, although Ruth is fulfilling that one by spending so much time with me. Sweet's list is a great reminder that Jesus turned conventional ways of being a God-person upside down.

This got me thinking about the John Wesley prayer which has been used at New Year's covenant services for 240 years or so. The language has been updated, but it's essentially the same prayer that was first offered back in the time of Bridgerton, to give you a context. I sure didn't hear it in the series!

I am no longer my own, but yours.

Put me to what you will, rank me with whom you will;

put me to doing, put me to suffering;

let me be employed for you, or laid aside for you,

exalted for you, or brought low for you;

let me be full,

let me be empty,

let me have all things,

let me have nothing:

I freely and wholeheartedly yield all things

to your pleasure and disposal.

And now, glorious and blessed God,

Father, Son and Holy Spirit,

you are mine and I am yours. So be it.

And the covenant now made on earth, let it be ratified in heaven.

Amen.