By LuAnn Edwards

Did you make a New Year’s resolution? Are you planning to lose weight, save money, exercise, eat healthier food, or get out of debt? All of these are beneficial and excellent goals. What about becoming more like Christ during this New Year? Possibly becoming a man or woman after God’s own heart?

I would like to tell you about David.

Not King David but a friend of my husband’s and mine whose funeral we attended two days after Christmas.

When David was 25 years old he met the Lord, and his life changed dramatically. His commitment to Christ took him all over the United States and around the globe sharing the Word of God. Not only did David love God’s Word, he also had a deep passion for the lost. He prayed for God to bring people to him who were open to hearing the Lord’s message of hope and salvation. Then he shared the Good News of Jesus with them and led many to a saving knowledge of Christ.

His daughters shared with us how he modeled Christ in their home. He was a strong leader yet gentle and compassionate. He deeply loved them and their mom; he lived what he believed.

David was a man of integrity and a good friend. He made people feel special with his warm smile and kind, encouraging words. He touched many lives and blessed people everywhere he went. David left a beautiful mark on this earth.

Jesus drove David’s life, and the joy of the Lord poured out from him. He left his family and all who had the privilege of knowing him a legacy of character and faith. David was truly a man after God’s own heart. He was an example of Jesus Christ.

I desire to emulate these qualities of Jesus in my own life so I too become a woman after God’s own heart. I want to step out in faith and share Christ’s love with others as David did. At the end of my life as I now know it, I want to hear the Lord say to me, “Well done, good and faithful servant!” (Matthew 25:21a) I’m certain David heard these words.

What about you? During this New Year do you desire to draw closer to Christ, to become more like Him and pray for others to see Jesus in you? Are you willing to share Christ with the lost and hurting?

“…You are my witnesses, ‘declares the LORD,’ that I am God” (Isaiah 43:12).