Well, we're three weeks in to 2013. Have you kept your resolutions so far? Or are you realizing again this year that the New Year's resolutions were tougher than they sounded on Jan. 1?

Now, for some things, not holding to a New Year's resolution might not be that big of a deal. You weren't doing them before so how bad can it be to just keep doing what you were doing? But for others, the consequences are pretty serious. Maybe your resolution was brought about by a health scare. That makes it a little bigger deal not to give in. Maybe you resolved to strengthen your marriage that's been struggling, or grow closer to your kids who are heading down a wrong path. Breaking those resolutions is no laughing matter. But much more serious is the resolution I encouraged you all to make, the resolution our text lays out for us: grow closer to your Savior this year. Strengthen your relationship with God.

When it comes to your relationship with God, there is no middle ground. Status quo isn't an option. At every point in your life, you are either growing closer to God or being drawn further and further away from him. It is so important that Satan won't let you stand still. He's constantly attacking, and if we aren't constantly being built up against him and his assaults, we're giving ground.

In 2 Peter 3:18, the apostle Peter tells us: "Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen."

Grow. That's his command for you. You can tell a plant to grow, but it needs more than that. It needs the power to grow from the nutrition of the soul, from the heat of the sun and from the water's vitality.
There needs to be power given to it to cause it to grow.

And in 2 Peter 3:18 there is. The power is in the very word that gives the command. Remember when God created the world. He just spoke the word and it came to be. "Let there be light" caused light. And that same powerful word is the word that commands us to grow. And just like God promised it, when he says something, it happens. So today he tells us to "Grow."

He doesn't want us standing still. He wants our knowledge to increase and he wants our grace, our ability to live his love, to increase.
He gives us the resources to make that happen - his word. His word is the sun and water and soil for that plant. His word is the food for our faith, the breath for our spiritual lungs, the water to quench our thirst. His word is what makes us grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And when that happens, it tends to impact the rest of our resolutions, the rest of our life, as more and more, we're living love and making good decisions and helping one another.

So if you want to grow closer to God this year, you'll have to resolve to be in that word. Get into your Bible daily, and get into a church where that word is center stage, where every week, you'll hear God's love for you and his will for your life. And how about this for a resolution that you can keep? Just for starters, commit to the 12-week Bible Information Class that starts next week at our church. We meet on Mondays at 6:45 p.m. and on Fridays at 11 a.m.

And as you keep that resolution, God keeps his to you. You will grow through that word, as you get your questions answered and see so clearly his love again and again. You'll grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And that results in what Peter closes our verse with - glory to God both now and forever.
Now that's a resolution worth keeping. May God bless you as you make and keep all your commitments to him. Why don't you join us for worship this Sunday as we celebrate Commitment Sunday and consider how we can encourage one another in those commitments? There's a meal following, so stick around and grow!

Rev. Jonathan Scharf is pastor of Abiding Grace Lutheran Church in Covington. Worship every Sunday is at 10:30 a.m. Full sermons and more information can be found at abidinggrace.com.