While I don’t typically make true New Year’s resolutions, given my personality, I do tend to get a bit introspective around this time of year and spend some time evaluating over-analyzing areas in which I’m doing well and areas in need of {sometimes serious} improvement.

This time of introspection, lasting anywhere from a couple of hours to a couple of weeks, often does lead to setting a few goals, which more often than not tend to fall into the lofty-and-completely-unattainable-because-I-really-just-want-to-be-perfect category.

But this year, while I did set a few {mostly realistic} goals to improve in a few very specific areas, I also did something I’ve never done before. I came across a passage {quite unexpectedly and I honestly can’t even remember how…} in 1 Chronicles that resonated so deeply within me, that after spending some time praying over it and going back to it several times, I decided I needed to claim it as a sort of theme for 2012.

In 1 Chronicles 16, we find the Israelites placing the ark of the covenant inside the tent in Jerusalem that they had prepared {according to the Lord’s instructions and plans}, and then David appoints the Levites as ministers and instructs them to give thanks and praise to the Lord. And while David’s entire song of thanks in verses 8-36 is powerful and worth the read, two verses especially captured my attention:

“Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually!

Remember the wondrous works that he has done, his miracles and the judgments he uttered…”

1 Chronicles 16:11-12 (ESV)

And in those two verses I knew I had found a goal far more worthy of defining this year {and this life, for that matter} than any I could set for myself:

To seek the Lord.

To seek His presence. Intentionally. Faithfully. Continually.

To seek after and rely upon His strength and His Spirit dwelling within.

To remember the Lord, to choose faith, to choose worship.

To surrender to the Sovereign and Everlasting God of both miracles and judgments.

To seek the Lord.

Have you ever chosen a verse or passage to bring focus to a given year or season of your life? If so, I’d love to hear the verse(s) you chose and how the Lord revealed them.

*Linking with Thought-Provoking Thursday*