A few days ago I was driving in my car listening to the radio. The DJ came on in-between songs and said something like, “Have you heard of choosing one word for your year instead of setting New Year’s resolutions?” It was crazy to me that a movement, I thought started in the blogging world a few years ago, is now on nationally syndicated radio.
By now you’ve probably heard of #OneWord365 – where you choose one word or one theme for your upcoming year. Maybe it’s something you need to learn or something you want to become or how you want to grow.
I’ve participated in the #OneWord365 movement for two years now. Reading back over my posts, one makes me laugh out loud and then hide under a blanket. It’s so embarrassing because it’s so ridiculous. Who did I think I’d become, Super Woman? You can read that post here – “New Year, New Challenges”. And my revelation of how ridiculous is was here – “The Post Where I Quit {I Mean Surrender}.
In 2012 my #OneWord365 was Focus.
Then in 2013 my #OneWord365 was Surrender.
So this year? I started thinking and praying about what my One Word should be for 2014. For the past several months God has been placing this sentence into my head – “Just keep your eyes on me.” As I evaluated any type of anxiety or fear or tension or issues in my life over the past several months, I’ve realized that most of them have either began or escalated because I took my eyes off of Jesus. Kind of like Peter and stepping out of the boat into the raging sea, right?
Then, just yesterday, I came across this verse in The Message translation of the Bible. I read The Message sometimes to get a different perspective, but definitely not regularly. This version came up in a Google search, and I knew this was my verse for 2014.
“Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God.” Hebrews 12:2 (The Message, bold mine)
Eyes. My #OneWord365 would be Eyes. But eyes seemed a little odd. I needed a verb like Focus and Surrender. So what do eyes do? They Seek. Seek Jesus.
And Seek is my #OneWord365.
“But even there, if you seek God, your God, you’ll be able to find him if you’re serious, looking for him with your whole heart and soul. When troubles come and all these awful things happen to you, in future days you will come back to God, your God, and listen obediently to what he says.” Deuteronomy 4:29-30 (The Message)
This year I want my eyes to be plastered to Jesus. I want to seek Him with my whole heart and soul!
Today, spend some time choosing a One Word for 2014 if you haven’t already. Then, come back and share it in the comments!
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