New Year's resolutions

This week, I want to take a look at New Year's resolutions. What exactly is a resolution. If you take a look at Webster's dictionary, you will find at least 9 different definitions. One of them that I like is "a firm determination to do something". That is usually what our New Year's resolutions are about--determining to do something about something in our lives we don't like about ourselves. We resolve to lose weight, to tone up our muscles, to exercise, to spend more time in Bible study and prayer, to spend less time at work, etc. etc. etc. I don't know about most of you, but I typically end up breaking most if not all of the resolutions I have made. That's why I don't really try to make them anymore.

But, one definition in Webster's was interesting---the word resolution was equated with music. Webster's musical definition of resolution is "the progression of a voice part or the harmony as a whole from a dissonance to a consonance". Now if you're like me, that went way over my head, so I consulted one of my college friends who had a degree in music and she said this is what that phrase means: that is a progression of a sound that is out of tune and unpleasant to the ear to one that is pleasing in tune. Maybe that should be our New Year's resolution: to be in tune with those around us. Or maybe take a higher road and be more in tune with God!

That's what I think Psalm 103 is about--Praise the Lord, oh my soul, all my inmost being, praise His holy name. Praise the Lord, oh my soul, and forget not his benefits. He forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases. He redeems you from the pit, and crowns you with love and compassion. As you read the rest of Psalm 103, it is truly a Psalm of someone that is in tune with God. The writer of this Psalm knew exactly what God had done for him and was ready to praise Him for everything--again, being in tune with God. And if we are in tune with God, we can't help but be in tune with others around him. Practice tuning up this year. Just like all piano's, we all need a tune up.