New Yield Resolution

It’s almost the middle of January and I’m wondering how many of you 

have already given up on that New Year’s Resolution?  

I’m not really one to make resolutions, but decided this year to do something different.  

I’m calling my goal for 2012 a New Yield Resolution, and to take that a 

step further I want to talk to you about 

Gaining by Giving up.  

The idea is, rather than go after the things you want for the New Year, 

to challenge you to yield things to God in this New Year.

Today, I have a sign with me, this particular sign means, slow down, 

and be cautious unless you’re a man and then it means accelerate! 

The dictionary gives us some better definitions and they are:

  to give up, as to a superior power or authority: to give up or surrender (oneself): 

to give up or over; relinquish or resign.

 Now let’s say you are sick and tired of being told what to do, you snap and all of a sudden 

you decide that rules do not apply to you, not even road signs.  

Well, after they release you from the hospital, or after you get that ticket

 or worse yet after they pull your body from the car, 

you might have a different perspective about choices and rules, even road signs.  

Safety in a car comes from yielding to all the signs on the road, not just the yield signs.

As followers of Christ, our lives draw similar parallels.  

We choose to become a Christian, but still want to do what we want to do, 

no rules, just forgiveness from sin.  

Jesus said we must be willing to pick up our cross and yield 

our lives to him to get what we truly need.  

It’s not about what we can get out of life; 

it’s about what we gain when we give up our lives. 

In order to follow him, we have to deny ourselves, take up his cross and follow him.  

I like what Luke 9:23 says, and take up his cross daily…not just whenever, but daily.  

That’s truly yielding your life to Christ, to choose daily to deny yourself and follow him.  

How many times have you promised yourself you were going to really live for Christ, 

trust God and NOT get in his way.  

We all do it, the problem is we lack patience; 

we want what we want NOW instead of

waiting for God to bring it about in his timing.  

We have to remember there is so much to gain, when we give up 

or yield and let God handle everything.  

I’m sure most of us could share a time when we got ahead of God?

Gaining by giving up is a difficult concept, but when we yield to the things of God 

and yield or give up things to God,  God promises to take care of us.  

We live in a world of entitlements, a world in which people expect to get, get, get, 

so to be deprived is unthinkable. 

You are probably thinking why would anyone want to give up their rights 

and place themselves under someone else’s control?

  

But think of it this way: 

When we decide to yield to someone we are putting our lives in 

that persons hands, so why not that person be God?

God is asking us to yield all areas of our lives to him.  

Put our hurts, pains, frustrations, dreams, in his hands.  

I know I’m carrying some burdens that are just too heavy, and today I need to practice 

what I preach and yield those things to him.  

Possibly you find yourself overwhelmed with a situation, yield it to God today.

   

My challenge to you is list out the areas in which you need to 

yield to God and write it on your yield sign and carry it with you in your 

Bible, or notebook or place it near your mirror,

 so you can see it every morning and be reminded that 

God is calling you to yield and listen quietly to his voice and

 be willing to give up in order to get what 

GOD has in mind for you.