Then they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul; and all Judah rejoiced at the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and sought Him with all their soul; He was found by them, and the Lord gave them rest all around. (II Chronicles 15:12, 15)

The beginning of a new year is always laden with new resolutions, that when kept, promise that the year will be different than the previous one. But sadly, all too often, our commitment and disciple to keep our resolutions fizzle out. This is especially true when it comes to resolutions or promises that we make to God to grow spiritually and enhance our walk with the Lord.

Hidden in the story of an Old Testament king named Asa, lies the answer to keeping our spiritual resolutions and promises made to God. The first thing Asa did was to call for the nation to repent and remove all the idols they were worshiping: we must do the same. An idol is anything we pursue, or embrace, at the expense of God and His Word. An idol is also anything that gets a higher priority than God in our lives. We need to examine our hearts and make sure that nothing, and no one, has a higher place in our affections and pursuit than God. If we discover that there are things, or people in our lives that hold a higher priority than God, we need to repent and restore God as the number one object of our affection and the priority of our pursuit.

The second thing that Asa did was to restore worship as the first priority of the nation. The highest calling in life is to become a worshiper of God. Today, so many people make the mistake of relegating worship to an activity that takes place on Sunday at church. Worship to them is the musical portion of the church service. However, the Scripture teaches a much broader scope of the activity of worship. Worship is not just an activity in which we participate on Sundays; worship is a lifestyle. Worship is to occur every day as we release the affections of our hearts to love God for Who He is, not just for what He has done for us. Worship encompasses the entirety of life and must be given our highest priority.

The final thing that Asa did was to make a covenant with the Lord. Asa and the people promised God that they would keep their commitments to Him with their whole hearts. Herein lies the secret to keeping our commitments to God … we must do so with the involvement of our whole heart.

As you set out to keep your spiritual resolutions, promises and commitments to the Lord, embrace the secrets of Asa, an ancient king of Israel. Repent and remove all idols from your life. Restore your worship of God to the number one priority of your life. Involve your whole heart in your pursuit of God. Remember, talk is cheap! The proof of your desire is evidenced in the discipline of your pursuit.