And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

– Matthew 26:40-41 (ESV)

It’s common this time of year to make lists of resolutions. I can think of a dozen things I’d like to do better in 2006 than I did in 2005. Not one of them is unattainable.

In fact, from my observations many of the goals we set for ourselves are very attainable, including that most commmon goal among adults (you guessed it): “I want to lose weight”.

Heck, I’ve lost weight before – and I know for a fact that enduring that gross Atkins taste in my mouth for 2 1/2 months would shed twenty pounds (as it did two years ago. Yeah, I gained it all back).

We all resolve to do better at work, in our marriages, in our tending of our physical temple, in school, etc. And yet it’s so easy to . . . to do exactly the same in the upcoming year as the year before.

And what of the highest goal, the goal of knowing God better, walking with him more closely, and glorifying him more?

We want to do this. I want to do this! The spirit is so willing.

But the flesh is weak! Weak, weak, and treacherous, this flesh we’re clothed in! And it wants to loaf, to waste time, to do a thousand things besides that which benefits my spirit and the Kingdom.

In searching for an analogy for my own bad self, I was reminded of this scene from that profound work, The Emperor’s New Groove:

Kuzco: I snatched you right out of the air!

“Oh, I’m a crumbly canyon wall, and I’m taking you with me.”

Well, not today, pal!

Uh-huh. Uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh. Uh-huh.

Yes, my flesh is a crumbly canyon wall, and it wants to take me with it.

Man! To be able to say “not today, pal!” But there’s only been one human being in all of history who perfectly mastered his flesh and kept it in perfect submission to the Father’s plan.

May I call upon Jesus, my strength and my rock, this year. I know that without him my ideas of improvement will not happen. And I need to improve so badly, in so many areas. I feel this more deeply this year than I have in a long time. But only by the power of the Holy Spirit do I have the slightest hope of doing better. Because no matter how much my spirit wants to, I have my crumbly canyon wall to deal with.