Charting the New Year with the Perfect Resolution: Answering God's Call in Everyday Moments
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For This Prestigious Occasion
Charting the New Year
with the Perfect Resolution:
Answering God's Call in Everyday Moments
After church this morning, I stopped by Cub Foods to grab a few things. As I walked toward my car in the parking lot, I noticed a minivan backing out of its space. The driver misjudged the distance and crunch! He hit the front bumper of a Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon. The sound made me wince.
Then, to my shock, the motorist began pulling away as if nothing happened, a hit-and-run in progress.
I yelled, "Hey, you hit that car!" He kept moving. I yelled again, louder, loud enough for the whole parking lot to hear. Bystanders started looking over. The motorist stopped, rolled down his window, and I said calmly, "I'm sure you're aware you hit this man's car. Please do the right thing."
He parked, walked over to check the damage, and said he was going back to his car to get a pen and paper to leave a note. While he inspected the damage, I snapped a photo of his license plate, just in case.
But as soon as he returned to his car, he started the engine, backed out, and drove away. I made one last plea: “This is the wrong thing to do. Please do the right thing!” But he rolled away.
I went back inside the store and asked the store manager to page the Mercedes owner. Moments later, she and her teenage son arrived. I shared the photo and explained what happened. The manager assured her the parking lot cameras would provide footage for the police and insurance.
The Inner Struggle
Truthfully, part of me thought, “Mr. Jackson, just mind your own business. Like Sergeant Schultz, just say, ‘I see nothing, I see nothing.’” This effort was inconvenient and risky. But there was a gentle stirring in my spirit, the same words I spoke to the motorist: “Do the right thing.”
That small act brought hope and maybe justice to the Mercedes owner and store manager. And it reminded me: God often speaks through these everyday moments, nudging us to act in ways that reflect Him. After all, I am His child and must conduct myself accordingly. Represent!
Called to Perfection
Jesus said in Matthew 5:48,
“Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
Perfection doesn’t mean being flawless or sinless. It means living with undivided loyalty to God, growing in love, holiness, and obedience. It’s about spiritual maturity and completeness.
Today’s story wasn’t about being perfect, it was about living out what I’ve learned through my upbringing, Sunday school, sermons, and Bible study. I’m not perfect, but I’m striving to let Him finish His work in me.
The Apostle Paul said it best in Philippians 3:12–14:
“I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.”
A New Year Challenge
As we step into the New Year, let’s commit to listening for those gentle nudges from God. Perfection isn’t about being flawless, it’s about growing in love and obedience.
That parking lot moment wasn't extraordinary, it was ordinary. And that's exactly the point. Our journey toward spiritual maturity isn't built on mountaintop experiences alone; it's forged in the everyday choices we make when no one's watching, when it would be easier to walk away, when doing the right thing costs us something. These small acts of obedience, these seemingly insignificant moments of choosing God's way over our own convenience, they're the building blocks of the perfection Christ calls us to.
So here's my challenge as we chart this New Year together: Don't wait for grand opportunities to demonstrate your faith. Start in the parking lots of your life. Listen for that still, small voice in the mundane moments. When you feel that gentle nudge to do the right thing, to show kindness, to choose integrity over ease, follow it. Because the person you're becoming isn't shaped by your New Year's resolutions written on January 1st; it's shaped by the thousand small decisions you make between now and next December.
Watch for your parking lot moment be this year. God will be calling on you to represent Him in the ordinary. I pray we'll all have the courage to say yes, not perfectly, but faithfully, one small obedience at a time.
Hallelujah! Sing a New Song to GOD. Sing HIS praise in the assembly of godly people. Psalm 149:1.
"Goodbye, Old Year / Welcome, New Year", 2025, Soulfire Gospel
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