Lake Neuron

This week’s “Blogger Idol” topic is “Resolutions.”

Resolutions imply willpower, self-control. The type of resoution one announces for New Year’s is usually a big, ongoing project of some sort. “I resolve to lose weight.” “I resolve to pay down my debts.” “I resolve to be a better husband.”

Well, I’m not married, but those first two are things I need to do during the new year. Have I announced them as New Year’s resolutions? No. I have too much experience with such proclamations to take them seriously. Yes, I hope to make progress on both fronts. But I lack the confidence to promise. God has adequate capability to solve those problems and many others, but will I trust him? Will I have the wisdom and courage to follow his guidance and accept his grace?

Matthew 21:28-32 tells the story of two brothers. Their father asks them to work in the vineyard. One promises he will do so but doesn’t follow through. The other hems and haws but ends up doing the right thing in the end. Obviously, the passage points out, the second brother is the one who ultimately pleased the father. I have always identified with the second brother and feared becoming the first brother.

But those aren’t the only two options. Some would say that a resolution — a public pronouncement — can help firm up one’s sense of commitment and prod one into following through, lest one embarass one’s self.

It is very true that I could never have gone to Nicaragua or Kenya if I had tried to raise the money before making a decision. In that case, I had to announce that I was making a trip, and then once I had made the commitment, I (and my potential partners) had the responsibility for following up on it.

Perhaps that kind of public resolution would do me good. Perhaps it would push me out of the nest and force me to follow through. If I were to publicly announce, in my opinion page column in the Times-Gazette, that I wanted to lose 50 pounds in 2005, perhaps that would have an impact on my eating habits (at least in public). I don’t go out walking as often as I should, but I’m amazed at the people from my neighborhood whom I encounter in other settings. “I saw you out walking the other day, John,” some of them say, and I usually find that encouraging.

It’s just that I’m still not sure I have it in me to follow through, and I don’t want to be a hypocrite like the first brother.

I think I’ll continue to work out my salvation in fear and trembling, and leave the resolutions to others.