And He said to them, Guard yourselves and keep free from all covetousness (the immoderate desire for wealth, the greedy longing to have more); for a man’s life does not consist in and is not derived from possessing overflowing abundance or that which is over and above his needs. – Luke 12:15, Amplified Bible (AMP)

New Year’s Eve is the perfect time to reflect on how we’ve lived during the past year. It is also the perfect time to consider how we intend to live during the coming year. Part of preparing for the New Year includes setting goals to strive for during the next twelve months, but before we take pen and paper to codify our goals, we need to ask ourselves one very important question: whose goals will we be pursuing?

Our natural tendency is to strive for things that will satisfy our flesh. We seek wealth, we seek leisure, and we seek comfort, and our goals reflect our desire for that wealth, leisure, and comfort. Although wealth, leisure, and comfort are not inherently wrong, they become wrong when they take the place of that which is the most important thing any of us can possess: a richer relationship with God.

If we have our priorities straight, we will not find our list of goals reflecting a desire for greedy gain. Instead, we will find our goals reflecting a desire to build a stronger relationship with God. Building a stronger relationship with God certainly involves spending undistracted time with Him in prayer, Bible reading, and meditation. But, it also involves doing something that most Christians just don’t want to do: making disciples. We cannot enjoy a rich relationship with God by praying a little, by reading the Bible a little, and then by going on our merry way in pursuit of the stuff we want. We build a rich relationship with God by living for Him in every facet of our lives, and that includes obeying the Great Commission. In John 15:14 (AMP), Jesus said, “You are My friends if you keep on doing the things which I command you to do.” If we do not give any thought to the desperate souls around us, how then can we have a rich relationship with our Savior? If we disobey such a key commandment, how then can we be His friends?

Before you begin to pen your goals for the coming year, ask God to help you see that your purpose for the next twelve months is not to get stuff for yourself; it is for you to draw closer to Him so that He can use you to draw others to Him. Then, ask God to guide you through the goal-setting process with your correct purpose in mind. In the end, you’ll find goals on your paper that are much more worthy than any you could devise yourself. And, you just might find during the coming year that God will give you some of that stuff you wanted SOLELY because you sought to build His kingdom first.

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