Resolutions: One Thing I Do

Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus -- Philippians 3:13-14.

Several years ago, the aging actor Jack Palance found the perfect role as the stoic, hardened cowboy "Curly" in the hit film "City Slickers." Curly mimiced the iconic "Marlboro Man" as he guided three city men each going through their own mid-life crisis through their adventures on a New Mexico dude ranch.

In one noteworthy scene, Curly and Mitch (played by Billy Crystal) are riding their horses alongside a herd of cattle. Mitch is unloading his burdens on the rough, old cowboy. Curly says nothing but then holds up one finger. Curly says, "Do you know what the secret of life is?" He gestures with his extended index finger and says, "This."

Mitch with a puzzled look says, "Your finger?"

"One thing," says Curly. "You stick to that and the rest don't mean anything."

Mitch asks, "But what is the one thing?"

Curly responds, "That's what YOU have to find out."

The Apostle Paul, a much more legitimate source for one's life philosophy stated, "But one thing I do... I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." Paul found out what the "one thing" really is. It is pressing toward the goal of being conformed to Jesus Christ.

Most people begin each New Year with resolutions. They make mental or even written lists of goals and aspirations they hope to obtain. These might include losing weight, working out, paying off debts, etc... However, we often have so many goals in so many different areas that we fail to reach them. Curly and Paul understood the primacy of a singular purpose in life.

Romans 8:29 says, "For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren." That's the one thing. God's purpose in every believer is that he or she might be "conformed to the image of Christ," that each of us would become more and more like Jesus. This was Paul's focus.

We can spend our lives striving after endless resolutions which may or may not be fulfilled or we can give ourselves to this one thing, the very thing for which we were created, to become more and more like Jesus.

Soli Deo Gloria!