Readings for today: Zechariah 7-9, Revelation 19
What are your resolutions for the coming year? The promises you are making yourself? Is it to eat better? Exercise more regularly? Is it to stop drinking? Stop smoking? Conquer some other addiction in your life? Is it to dream bigger? Start a new business? Launch out on a new career? Is it to try something new? Learn something you never thought you could? Is it to make more time for those you love? Slow down? Simplify? All of these are good. All of them have their place. But what would happen if we challenged ourselves to go deeper? To make our New Year’s Resolutions really count?
Listen to these words from the prophet Zechariah…”Thus says the Lord of hosts, render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart.” (Zechariah 8:9-10) What would it look like in the coming year if we took these words to heart? How much would our lives change if we clung to the truth over all the lies? Plucked up the courage to be kind and merciful in a world of anger, bitterness, and hate? What if we cared for the widow, the orphan, the foreigner, and the poor rather than spending so much time and energy and resources on ourselves? What if we refused to give in to the temptation to tear others down, take revenge, or devise any other kind of evil in our hearts? Imagine for a moment every single Christian in the world committing themselves to these two verses for 2022. Imagine 3 billion people or more truly seeking to live these words out on a daily basis. Do you not think the world would change?
Of course, we have to deal with the reality that we all struggle to keep our resolutions. Studies show four out of five people end up breaking the commitments they make for the new year. Fully one-third barely make it past the first month. Why? Because we are often trying to accomplish these goals through sheer will-power alone. We try to make these changes without help. Without accountability. Without relying on anyone’s strength but our own. This is where we always fall short. So where do we go to find the strength we need? I’m glad you asked! ;-) I love the words of the Psalmist, “Don’t put your confidence in powerful people (including yourself!); there is no help for you there. When they breathe their last, they return to the earth, and all their plans die with them. But joyful are those who have the God of Israel as their helper, whose hope is in the Lord their God.” (Psalms 146:3-5) Friends, God alone can give you the strength to change. He alone can give you the courage to keep your resolutions in the coming year. But they must be aligned with His will. They must be submitted to His way. And we must humbly surrender our lives into His hands.
What does that look like practically? How does that work itself out in our day to day? You’ve heard me say it before but I will definitely say it again (and again and again and again)…
1) Spend time with God every day. Intentionally place yourself before Him and ask God to help you look at your life and the world around you through His eyes. (In fact, you can sign up with us to read through the Bible again next year! Love to have you join us for yet another run through!)
2) Gather with a local church family in corporate worship each week. Put it on your schedule right now. Before all the activities and opportunities begin to crowd God out. God promises to meet His people wherever two or three or more are gathered in His name.
3) Find a small group of friends to intentionally pursue Jesus with. Pursue relationships of authenticity and transparency and accountability. Deep spiritual friendships don’t happen by accident. They require intentionality and sacrifice.
4) Find a place to serve. Inside the church. Outside the church. Both. Find a way to get involved in God’s mission to reach the lost and to teach others all He has commanded us as believers. We were created to carry God’s image to the ends of the earth. Get in touch with why you were made.
Recently in some devotional reading, I ran across this great quote from 20th century Christian missionary and statesman, Frank Laubach… “If anybody were to ask me how to find God I should say at once, hunt out the deepest need you can find and forget all about your own comfort while you try to meet that need. Talk to God about it and He will meet you there. You will know it.” I believe this with all my heart because I have seen and experienced it with my own eyes. When I have gotten engaged in God’s mission in the world, I have found Him waiting for me there. My faith grows. My heart breaks. My eyes fill with tears. And I realize God is changing me. Giving me His heart of compassion. His heart of love. His heart of mercy. And I am overwhelmed with deep thankfulness. This thankfulness spills over into my everyday life. I become a better husband and father. A wiser pastor. A more faithful friend.
So take a pic of those verses from Zechariah. Print them out. Write them in your journal. Put them on your Home Screen. Do whatever it takes to plant them deep within your heart and watch God go to work in and through your life in the coming year.
Readings for tomorrow: Zechariah 10-14, Malachi 1-4, Revelation 20-22