I Can't Stay Stagnant

What is the most important way I will, by God's grace, try to make this year different from last year?
Again, The Lord has been really working on me these past few weeks on this very issue. Last year was one of those years that I did not see any real progress or deterioration. I was just kind of stagnant. The problem with being stagnant is that after a while things start to rot and stink. If a body of water stays still and does not have any movement, things start to decay. That is where I was last year. The stink got to be too much for me so I determined that this year would be different.
The Lord has put people, books, blogs, and sermons in my path that all have said the same thing. What do I find my joy in? For me, that is what I am changing this year. I resolve to find my joy in Christ and what he has done for me. The Westminster Catechism states that the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. John Piper says a good way to think about is to glorify God BY enjoying him forever. What a thought. I am being led that this is the main thing I need to change this year. I need to enjoy God. I do this by spending time with him in prayer and bible reading and study.
Do I really enjoy God? Do I crave and look forward to my time with him? The Bible is full of passages and examples that talk about seeking after God. A soul that longs for and thirsts after God is a common theme found in many passages. In psalm 63 it talks about this. Do I seek after God like this? Last year I did not. This year I want it to be different. It is going to take a while to get to that point. I can pray that The Lord would put a desire in my heart to seek after him and enjoy him more. I have already felt closer to God this year than I have in a long time. I think it is because I have been seeking him more and spending more time with him. I have been listening to sermons and godly music. I basically have been filling my mind with things of The Lord. I am slowly finding myself enjoying my time with him more. I am staring to look forward to the time of the day when I can come before him in prayer and study.
I want to close this post with something I heard Francis Chan say in a sermon called The Biggest Lie in Your Life. It was a sermon where he basically was confessing the fact that he had been letting things get in his way of his relationship with The Lord. It was good things that he was doing, like spending more time with his family, but he found himself neglecting God and not thirsting after God. He asked a very sobering question that really caused me think. Here it is. If you could have all the benefits of heaven, (no pain and tears, the mansion, the streets of gold, the fellowship with loved ones and friends), yet Jesus was not there, would you still be content? Don't give the answer that you think others want to hear. Really search your heart for the answer. Is my faith simply fire insurance to get to heaven or is it out of love and thirsting and desire for fellowship with Jesus?

Three things I am thankful for today:
25. A gift held - my sweet one year old girl snuggling with me this morning with her arms wrapped tightly around my neck.

26. A gift passed by - a cement truck on the road that started an interesting conversation with my 9 year old girl.

27. A gift sat with - my mom and I sitting with all 8 children enjoying lunch at the mall.

I love Carl because he is understanding when I vent my frustration about something to him. He is patient in waiting for that phone call back apologizing and explaining what was really going on. After of course I have cooled down.