Never lose sight of love in your resolutions

If you haven't been following my mini-series on resolutions for which I've been using Steve Lawson's book The Unwavering Resolve of Jonathan Edwards, you might want to start at the beginning and work your way up to this final post. We've already seen that Edwards resolutions seek to glorify God, help put away sin, make the most of his time, and require great discipline. Edwards' resolutions also reflect his desire to love others.

Resolutions are about doing better, improving ourselves, fulfilling personal goals, so it's no wonder that there's a tendency to be self-focused when making them. If you're like me you can almost lose sight of the forest for the trees. I mean, I might get so wrapped up in how much time I'm going to spend reading the Bible that I end up completely neglecting my children or snapping at my husband in order to fulfill my resolution. Edwards was determined to not lose sight of love in his resolutions. His love for others stemmed from his love for God and this love is reflected in many of his resolutions.

Resolution 13: "Resolved, to be endeavoring to find out fit objects of charity and liberality." (Lawson p. 125)

I love that this great man of God was always on the look-out for ways to show love to others. And he understood love as truly seeking the best interest of others, not the giving of trivial tokens or flattery. For instance, one way Edwards sought to love others is by "trying to initiate conversations about spiritual things." "He believed he must be careful to capture opportunities to talk to others about God." (Lawson p. 126)

Resolution 14: "Resolved, never to do anything out of revenge." (Lawson p. 127)

Edwards had many occasions to try to implement this resolution since he struggled with relationships from his college days and even as a pastor. In school Edwards was so brilliant that he was not well-liked. Then later he suffered a church split and was even asked to step down from the pulpit. Edwards admitted that he lacked gentleness and wrote in his diary "a virtue which I need in a higher degree, to give a beauty and luster to my behavior, is gentleness. If I had more of an air of gentleness, I should be much mended." (Lawson p. 130) Again, we see Edwards was not a flawless individual, but he was always reflecting on ways to improve himself.

Resolution 33: "Resolved, always to do what I can towards making, maintaining and establishing peace, when it can be without over-balancing detriment in other respects." (Lawson p. 132)

In other words, he wasn't willing to sacrifice principle in order to keep the peace. "Such peace is no peace, only a momentary truce at the price of the truth." (Lawson p. 133)

Another diary entry shows Edwards' desire to be sensitive to others in his conversation. "Let there, in the general, be something of benevolence in all that I speak." (Lawson p. 136)

So Edwards showed love for others by endeavoring to share true Christian fellowship by talking with others about God and His Word, especially the gospel; by being a peacemaker; by guarding his heart against a vengeful attitude when others wronged him; and by trying to be gentle, kind, and sensitive in his speech.

It's hard to balance discipline with charity, is it not? Often those who are the most disciplined have to shove others out of the way on their way to reach their goals. As Christians, we must do both. We're running a race and that requires dedication, discipline, and endurance. However, Scripture is also clear that if we don't love others then the love of God is not in us. Jonathan Edwards resolved to never lose sight of love in his resolutions. We would also do well to remember that it will be lonely at the end of our race if we've forgotten what we're running for. For God so loved the world... He saved us out of love. Jesus summed up the 10 commandments saying to love God with all your heart and your neighbor as yourself. Love should guide us as we make our resolutions and as we try to live them out each day.

Discipline- Making it all happen

If you've been following my series on Jonathan Edwards, you know I've taken most of it directly from Steve Lawson's book, The Unwavering Resolve of Jonathan Edwards. Today I want to look at how this godly man accomplished so much.

Edwards was passionate about discipline! It has been said that his greatest ambition was to be the most “complete Christian” of his age and to realize his maximum usefulness for the glory of God. (Lawson p. 105) He knew complacency was a huge road block to the Christian life and that halfheartedness would never produce holiness, so he refused to allow it in himself.

Resolution 6: "Resolved, to live with all my might, while I do live." (Lawson p. 107)

Resolution 28: “Resolved, to study the Scriptures so steadily, constantly and frequently, as that I may find, and plainly perceive myself to grow in the knowledge of the same. (Lawson p. 113)

Resolution 61: “Resolved, that I will not give way to that listlessness which I find unbends and relaxes my mind from being fully and fixedly set on religion, whatever excuse I may have for it. (Lawson p. 118)

“Edwards defined ‘listlessness’ as a state in which his mind was less than fully fixed on spiritual things.” (Lawson p. 118) We may think this spiritual giant never struggled in this area, but that’s not true. His diary reveals discouragement over this very thing.

Dec. 21, Friday. This day, and yesterday, I was exceedingly dull, dry, and dead.
Saturday, Dec. 29. About sunset this day, dull and lifeless.
Tuesday, Jan. 1. Have been dull for several days. Examined whether I have not been guilty of negligence today; and resolved, No. (Lawson p. 119)

Edwards also gave credit where credit was due when his heart was enlightened.

“Saturday, Dec. 22, 1722. This day revived by God’s Spirit. Affected with the sense of the excellency of holiness. Felt more exercise of love to Christ than usual. Have also felt sensible repentance of sin, because it was committed against so merciful and good a God.” (Lawson p. 119)

Edwards knew that he would never be able to keep any of his resolutions, especially not those that required such great devotion to the Scriptures, without self-discipline. He further recognized that self-control in his physical life affected self-control in his spiritual life. For this reason he exercised self-denial in eating, drinking, and sleeping, in order to maximize his health and effectiveness.

Resolution 20: “Resolved, to maintain the strictest temperance in eating and drinking.”

It was said of Edwards that he often had an “emaciated” appearance and that he lived among people as an ascetic. John Piper explains that Edwards “carefully observed the effects of the different sorts of food, and selected those which best suited his constitution, and rendered him most fit for mental labor.” (Piper, God’s Passion for His Glory: Living the Vision for Jonathan Edwards p. 56)

The purpose then of strict physical regimentation, including exercise, was to empower his spiritual disciplines. Edwards had a profound knowledge of the Bible and was known during times of his life to study God’s Word for as many as 13 hours per day. Edwards didn’t study the Bible because it was his job, but because it nourished him. He wrote about the strength that he found in Scripture.

“Saturday, May 23. How it comes about I know not; but I have remarked it hitherto, that at those times when I have read the Scripture most, I have evermore been most lively, and in the best frames.” He called the the Bible “life-giving” and had a sense of the “excellency of the word of God, as a word of life; as the light of life; a sweet, excellent, life-giving word: accompanied with a thirsting after that word, that it might dwell richly in my heart.” (Lawson p. 113)

I made 5 resolutions for 2010 and beyond. I made very general resolutions, but they require me to live each day to the fullest as Edward resolved to do. I know that to accomplish this I must discipline myself. And lately I’ve been struggling with discipline, especially over the holiday. I’ve been staying up later and later and getting up in the morning later and later. Now we start homeschooling again on Monday and I need self-discipline more than ever. I did read my first 12 pages for the 90 day Bible challenge and loved it. I'm not used to reading such large chunks of Scripture at a time and I can already see that it's going to give me a new perspective. I encourage you if you’re a Christian and have never read the Bible in its entirety to take the challenge with me. You can go over to Mom's Toolbox and sign-up or just follow along the 90 day schedule with me.

Here's to climbing new heights together in 2010! Happy New Year and resolution-making, or should I say resolution-keeping?

My New Year's Resolutions and the 90 day Bible Challenge

I've been posting about resolutions for several days now and I plan on finishing up my mini-series on Jonathan Edwards tomorrow. But, today I want to share with you some resolutions I've made for 2010 and beyond.

1. Resolved, to read the Bible in 90 days cover to cover. And to be constantly in Bible study.

I was challenged by Kimberly at Raising Olives, but Mom's Toolbox is actually hosting the challenge and is where you can sign up to be a part of the fun. I'm so grateful my husband has agreed to do this with me so we can hold each other accountable. I've never attempted this before and I'm excited, yet nervous about it. I'm hoping to gain a better familiarity with Scripture and a more firm Bible chronology at my fingertips. During this time I will continue with my kids on our one year Bible reading plan (we do this aloud together).

I have often heard women tell me that they don't have time for Bible study at this point in their lives. God gives each of us 24 hrs in a day. How little of that time do we normally spend getting to know the One who made us, sustains us, loves us more than anyone else does, cares for our struggles, redeems us, and is preparing a place for us in heaven? Isn't it convicting when you stop to think about it? Our priority each day should be our time in the Word of God. His Word never goes forth in vain. It is sharper than a two-edged sword and pierces us. Is it possible to be sanctified, to grow more like Christ, to sin less, without spending time in the Bible? No, it's not. So, what are we waiting for? Let's just do it.

2. Resolved, to make time in our schedule for us to minister to others as a family.

If you have kids you know that just keeping up with their school work and activities is quite demanding. One of the main reasons I wanted to homeschool our kids is so we could more easily take advantage of ministry opportunities. Well, I've dropped the ball on that. I once read a quote regarding money that said something like, "what I spent is gone, what I saved I lost, but what I gave away is mine forever." I love that quote and think it applies to our time, as well. I've been so convicted and challenged by Jonathan Edwards' disciplined use of time. No, I'm not going to set aside a certain number of hours for this, but I am going to determine to review my resolutions each week like he did and keep them always before me. This will serve as a reminder of my priorities. Jesus came as the humble servant. If I'm a slave to Christ, if the Lord is my Master, then it follows that I will be serving Him. Keep me accountable in this, because I need it.

3. Resolved, to live each day as if I had a terminal disease, which all of us do!

I love that Edwards' determined to live as he thought he would wish to have as an old man looking back over his life. A life without regrets is what I want to have. I want to appreciate my family now. I want to study my Bible now. I want to be a woman of prayer now. I want to grow spiritually now. I want to be obedient now. I want to be a friend now. I don't want to wait until I'm left with memories full of regrets.

4. Resolved, to eat and exercise to the extent that I think the Lord would be pleased with should His return be imminent.

I know this is somewhat subjective, but what I have in mind here is moderation. I've struggled over control in this seemingly insignificant area in my life and I want to pay less and more attention to it. Let me explain. I want to NOT focus on whether or not I look how I would like to. (Let's face it, that's never going to happen, anyway.) I want to focus more on whether I'm eating more than I need. Edwards really inspired me in this area. He thought in terms of energy and effectiveness. I want to see my life as God does. I'm sure He couldn't care less what I look like, but my character, how much idle time I allow myself, how much time I'm devoting to exercise, how much excess I allow myself to indulge in, these He cares a geat deal about.

When I was young and single I would deny myself food and exercise to excess. Now that I'm way too busy to think about my appearance for more than 30 seconds a day I don't struggle with those issues. I've begun having the opposite problem of just not caring about exercise or diet, as long as I can fit in my clothes. I've focused on the wrong thing. The end result is neither here nor there. The point of Scripture prohibiting gluttony has nothing to do with the end result of weight or appearance, but everything to do with the godly character traits of self-control, industry, and contentment. We know that bodily discipline is of some value, but spiritual discipline of much more value. So, I can spend some time exercising, but probably not as much time as I would like. And I can eat sweets and praise God for them. And I can drink fraps and mochas, too. The key is to avoid excess. And this is where it gets tricky. Richard Baxter, another Puritan, wrote a lot about this. I think the key is to think like Edwards did about meeting the Lord and reviewing my life with Him. What will He think of the amount of time, money, and energy I've devoting to food and exercise? I think it's that eternal perspective that helps us live each day now for the glory of God.

5. Resolved, to make studying the Bible, memorizing Scripture, and praying the priority of our homeschool.

I recently read several books written by bloggers that really helped me "get" this. The Heart of Wisdom Teaching Approach by Robin Sampson encourages Christian families to follow the Hebrew method of centering education around teaching God's Word to our children (Deuteronomy 6). Lynnette Kraft encourages the same thing, but comes at it from a heart-wrenching testimony of loss. In her book, In Faithfulness, He Afflicted Me, Lynnette shares about the sudden death of her 6 year old daughter who had suffered from heart problems. She was able to reflect back on her daughter's great love for the Lord and command of Scripture. She is so grateful that she didn't make math and spelling the priorities in their homeschool each day. She is comforted and encouraged by the knowledge that her precious daughter is in heaven with the Lord. What else really matters?

I know that's only 5. What can I say? I'm a minimalist. But, if I actually live by these 5 resolutions, think how different my life will be.

What are your resolutions for 2010 and beyond? Will you keep me accountable? Perhaps I should blog about my resolutions from time to time. Successes, failures, thrills, and discouragement. Edwards' personal diary shows how very consumed he was with living life according to his 70 resolutions. He reviewed them each week and wrote about the degree to which he was living out each one. My goal is to also read over my resolutions once a week and reflect on my progress at that time.

Resolutions that make the most of your time

If you’ve been following my mini-series on resolutions, for which I’m relying heavily on Steve Lawson’s book The Unwavering Resolve of Jonathan Edwards, you know we’ve already seen reflected in Edwards’ resolutions his commitment to the pursuit of God’s glory and putting away sin. Today I hope we will be challenged and inspired by how Jonathan Edwards made use of his time.

This is something I struggle with, as I sit at my computer, making the most of my time. Do you know anyone like Roan of The Joyful Johnsons who can get so much accomplished on a given day it wears you out just reading her to-do list? Doesn’t it seem like these industrious souls have been given more time somehow than the rest of us? Well, we know that’s not possible, but sometimes it seems like it anyway. Edwards wrote much on his use of time because he realized that while lost money and health can potentially be recovered, time lost never can.

Resolution 5: “Resolved, never to lose one moment of time; but improve it the most profitable way I possibly can.” (Lawson p. 95)

Lawson explains that when Edwards penned this resolution he was completing a master’s degree, serving as interim pastor, and pursuing many interests such as the natural sciences. “So zealous was Edwards to improve his use of time that he calculated ways to gain minutes from tasks large and small.” (Lawson p. 95) (I felt somewhat vindicated that Edwards wasn't feeding people 3 times a day, or homeschooling or potty training anyone.)

Edwards prioritized time according to the will of God and also scheduled certain matters like prayer and study for times of the day when he was most alert. This rigorous prioritization required that he devote less time to other tasks that had to be done nonetheless, those he called “the tyranny of the urgent”, and to entirely neglect less important matters. He made these difficult decisions by keeping in mind the brevity of life.

Resolution 7: “Resolved, never to do anything, which I should be afraid to do, if it were the last hour of my life.” (Lawson p. 96)

You know that country song, “Live like you’re dying”, or something like that? That’s the idea. If I knew I had one year to live would I really want to spend it traveling the world or sky diving, or would I want to value each precious moment with my family and study God’s Word and pray all the more fervently with the knowledge that I would soon be meeting my Maker?

Resolution 19: “Resolved, never to do anything, which I should be afraid to do, if I expected it would not be above an hour, before I should hear the last trump.” (Lawson p. 100)

And as you can imagine, Edwards was NOT a procrastinator. He believed that delayed obedience is no obedience. (I’m quick to remind my kids of this, but all too often I neglect to apply it in my own life.)

Resolution 11: “Resolved, when I think of any theorem in divinity to be solved, immediately to do what I can towards solving it, if circumstances don’t hinder.” ( Lawson p. 98)

Really, Edwards thought of his life on earth as a training grounds for all eternity.

Resolution 50: “Resolved, I will act so as I think I shall judge would have been best, most prudent, when I come into the future world.” (Lawson p. 101)

In his diary he wrote of his struggle to keep his eyes fixed on heaven. “Lord, grant that from hence I may learn to withdraw thoughts, affections, desires, and expectations entirely from the world, and may fix them upon the heavenly state, where there is fullness of joy…” (Lawson p. 102) Edwards felt keeping his heart focused on heaven would help him to better live for God’s glory in the present.

Resolution 52: “I frequently hear persons in old age say how they would live, if they were to live their lives over again: resolved, that I will live just so as I can think I shall wish I had done, supposing I live to old age.” (Lawson p. 103)

Pondering the imminence of either his death or Christ’s return also helped Edwards keep materialism in check.

“Let every thing have the value now which it will have upon a sick bed; and frequently, in my pursuits of whatever kind, let this question come into my mind. ‘How much shall I value this upon my death-bed?’” (Lawson p. 97)

I hope to follow Edwards example as I make my New Year’s resolutions and prioritize first things first. C.S. Lewis once said, “When first things are put first, second things are not suppressed but increased.” (The Quotable Lewis edited by Wayne Martindale and Jerry Root p. 411) That’s what I’m counting on!

Resolutions that help us to put away sin

Last time we looked at how all of Edwards’ resolutions stemmed from his desire to glorify God at any cost. Today as I continue to share from Lawson’s book The Unwavering Resolve of Jonathan Edwards, I’ll focus on the second category of his resolutions concerned with putting away sin.

As Christians, we all want to sin less, this is unanimous, but how we go about that pursuit can determine the degree to which we are successful. Edwards recognized that his sins were symptoms of the corrupt desires of his heart and he took his heart seriously.

Resolution 24: “Resolved, whenever I do any conspicuously evil action, to trace it back, till I come to the original cause; and then both carefully endeavor to do so no more, and to fight and pray with all my might against the original of it.” (Lawson p. 84)

Resolution 56: “Resolved, never to give over, nor in the least to slacken my fight with my corruptions, however unsuccessful I may be.” (Lawson p. 85)

When I look at Edwards’ life, I think he must have been one of the most godly men to live on the face of the earth, but when Edwards’ examined himself (which he did often) he saw his sin and it was terribly offensive to him.

“My wickedness, as I am in myself, has long appeared to me perfectly ineffable, and infinitely swallowing up all thought and imagination; like an infinite deluge, or infinite mountains over my head. I know not how to express better, what my sins appear to me to be, than by heaping infinite upon infinite, and multiplying infinite by infinite… When I look into my heart and take a view of my wickedness, it looks like an abyss infinitely deeper than hell.” (from Edwards’ Personal Narrative, taken from Lawson p. 89)

They say the first step in tackling a problem is admitting you have a problem. Edwards proves this. He was a man perhaps more preoccupied with holiness than any other and we see in his above reflections that when he looked into his heart he saw a big problem. Do I take my sin as seriously as Edwards did? How often do I allow myself to think that since I’ve been saved from my sins that they don’t really matter anymore? As if God doesn’t care one way or the other since it's all just water under the bridge. Edwards understood the call to holiness in Scripture and he took it seriously.

Putting away his sin wasn’t just theory for Edwards either, like it often seems to be for me. I have these epiphanies during Bible study about ridding myself of sin, but all too often the convictions end there, as convictions. Edwards made actual escape plans to avoid sinning when temptation called.

“When I am violently beset with temptation, or cannot rid myself of evil thoughts, to do some sum in arithmetic, or geometry, or some other study, which necessarily engages all my thoughts, and unavoidably keeps them from wandering.” (from Edwards’ diary vol. 16, 776, taken from Lawson p. 86)

He was truly taking his thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ!

Edwards was determined when he discovered sin in his life that he would fully repent of it. He also determined to be gentle and forgiving of others in view of God’s forgiveness of him.

Resolution 3: “Resolved, if ever I shall fall and grow dull, so as to neglect to keep any part of these Resolutions, to repent of all I can remember, when I come to myself again.” (Lawson p. 79)

Resolution 8: “Resolved, to act, in all respects, both speaking and doing, as if nobody had been so vile as I, and as if I had committed the same sins, or had the same infirmities or failings of others; and that I will let the knowledge of their failings promote nothing but shame in myself, and prove only an occasion of my confessing my own sins and misery to God.” (Lawson p. 81)

So Edwards understood his propensity toward feeling self-righteous toward others and realized the antidote was reflecting on the magnitude of the sins forgiven him by our merciful Lord.

In summary, our resolutions should reflect our knowledge of our sins, the importance of searching out our sins so we can confess them and repent of them, the priority of putting away our sins, and the plans of action that will help us to avoid future sins. Wow, that’s quite a list. So, as we make our New Year’s resolutions let’s try to keep in mind what activities will help us keep our sins before us and what actions will help us to sin less.

Pursuing God's glory as the resolution of resolutions

One of the reasons I loved Lawson’s book The Unwavering Resolve of Jonathan Edwards is that it focuses on Edwards’ resolutions making it a quick and easy read, as opposed to many biographical works that can be slow and tedious as you learn about a person’s entire life. He groups Edwards’ 70 resolutions into 6 categories: pursuing the glory of God, forsaking sin, making proper use of God-allotted time, living with all his being for the Lord, pursuing humility and love, and making frequent self-examination. I won’t go through each one, but I highly recommend you get Lawson’s book if this interests you.

Edward begins his resolutions with his aim to glorify God in all things, showing really that all of his subsequent resolutions are meant to aid him in this endeavor. Resolutions 2, 4, 23, and 27 also deal directly with his goal to give God glory. Here's resolution #1:

"Resolved, that I will do whatsoever I think to be most to God’s glory, and my own good, profit and pleasure, in the whole of my duration, without any consideration of the time, whether now, or never so many myriads of ages hence. Resolved to do whatever I think to be my duty, and most for the good and advantage of mankind in general. Resolved to do this, whatever difficulties I meet with, how many and how great soever." (Edwards' first resolution copied from Lawson p.65)

Notice how Edwards assumes that whatever is most to God’s glory is also to his own good, profit, and even pleasure. My, how we’ve redefined “good”. How often do I consider some difficulty that is to my spiritual benefit and God’s glory “good”? Therein must lie the key to suffering well, the perspective that if it’s to God’s glory then it really is to the believer’s benefit, too. I don’t just have persecution in mind here, but the daily suffering of giving up my frivolous wants (and I have lots of them) in order to seek God’s glory. This is very convicting to me when I see how short I fall in the goals that I have set for my life. My goals are usually more short-term- like what I want to achieve over the next 1-10 years. Edwards truly had an eternal perspective in that he desired for every second of his life to count for eternity.

The next 69 of Edwards’ resolutions consisted of every possible way in which he could live out his primary goal of doing everything to maximize God’s glory. In the same way, I hope to establish some resolutions for myself for the upcoming year that will also stem from that same purpose to glorify God. I hope you will join me in brainstorming about the details of our lives- schedules, reading time, family time, diet, ministry, Bible study, friendships, marriage, “free” time, etc. and let’s establish a few resolutions that will spur us on toward holiness for the glory of God. Will you join with me? I’ll look at some more of Edwards’ resolutions in my next post and then start to make a few of my own. I’m NOT going to make 70, so don’t worry I think I can wrap this up in the next few days.

Resolved

Naturally since we’re about to begin a new year, and since my life has degenerated on all fronts over the last few days of holiday (I wore my pajamas for 2 days straight. The same ones. And eaten a steady diet of toffee, peanut brittle, and other assorted Christmas goodies.), I’ve had resolutions on the brain. I read the book The Unwavering Resolve of Jonathan Edwards by Steven J. Lawson last summer and it rocked my world. As I read through the little book, it brought many highs and lows. I was so challenged by it on the one hand, and so utterly disgusted with myself on the other. I congratulate myself for trying to steer clear of sin (you know, at least avoid the obvious ones) and here is a man who determined to decide each day between good, better, and best. Forget sin, he was concerned about being the best he could be each day. For example, I try to keep from getting fat because well, I don’t want to be fat, and oh, gluttony is also a sin. Edwards also watched what he ate, but for different reasons. Edwards actually measured his food and experimented to learn just how little he could eat without being too weak to carry out all his pastoral duties and still get the best use out of his mind. He noticed that eating too much and even eating at certain times made him lethargic and tempted him to sin by being lazy. Wow. I think too many cookies = fat. He thought too many cookies = sub-par service to the Lord. See the difference? Now apply that to every area of your life and you have some idea of Jonathan Edwards 70 resolutions. Yes, 70. And he read them over once a week to keep them always before him.

He also reviewed and analyzed the degree to which he was keeping his resolutions. He actually quantitated his progress so he could compare his success from month to month and year to year. For those of you who don’t know what that means, he used numbers to calculate how well he was doing. He implemented a grading system! Are you exhausted yet? Oh, and I forgot to mention that he was only 18 and 19 and a new believer when he wrote them. What were you doing when you were 18? And he reviewed them for the rest of his life!!!

I don’t know about you, but I usually keep my New Year’s resolutions for about 2 weeks. My mom says it takes 3 weeks to form a habit, so I guess that’s my problem. If I could just hold on for one more week maybe I could keep it up for the rest of my life. Ok, back to Jonathan Edwards. You might be wondering why in the world did he do all that? Didn’t he know that we’re saved by grace? The answer to the second question is “yes”. In fact, he understood that not only are we saved by grace, but that the degree to which he would be able to successfully keep his resolutions also depended on the grace of God. “Being sensible that I am unable to do anything without God’s help, I do humbly entreat him by His grace to enable me to keep these Resolutions, so far as they are agreeable to His will, for Christ’s sake.” (from Edward’s preamble to his resolutions) And also from his journal Jan. 2, 1722 “I perceive if God should withdraw His Spirit a little more, I should not hesitate to break my resolutions, and should soon arrive at my old state. There is no dependence on myself.” The answer to the first question then, of why he wrote his resolutions is that he wanted them to serve as purpose statements to direct him on his Christian journey. “Edwards consecrated himself in all things in order to glorify God and gain the incorruptible crown.” (Lawson p. xiii) His two-pronged goal with his resolutions was that he wanted to keep his spiritual priorities always before him, and he wanted his resolutions to serve as guidelines for self-examination. In other words, he wanted them to help make him holy. He wanted to live his life to the utmost for the glory of God.

Did it work for Jonathan Edwards? Well, in short, yes. He didn’t live a very long life (55 yrs), but he left a legacy of godliness that helped shape America over the next 100+ years. Edwards was a pastor, theologian, philosopher, university president (for 5 weeks) and left an indelible mark on our nation. His descendants include 300 clergymen, missionaries, and professors of theology; 120 college professors; 110 lawyers; over 60 physicians; more than 60 authors of good books; 30 judges; 14 presidents of universities; numerous giants in American industry; 80 holders of major public office; 3 mayors of large cities; 3 governors; 3 U.S. senators; one chaplain of the U.S. Senate; one comptroller of the U.S. Treasury; and one vice president of the United States. He’s heralded by many as the most influential single figure in American Christianity until the 20th century. It’s hard to measure success in the Christian life, though. His church certainly didn’t appreciate him, as he suffered a big church split and then was asked to step down from the pulpit. He lived out much of his life in relative obscurity ministering among a group of Native Americans. He used the time to write and left us with many works, the most influential of which were Religious Affections, Freedom of the Will, and The Nature of True Virtue.

Now that you’re primed for more Edwards, you’ll have to tune in next time to learn just what these resolutions were that helped make this man so great.