It’s a new year and you’ve made the determination that this is the year you are dedicating your life to follow Christ. No more playing around, this time it’s for real. And then you lose your job. Your spouse tells you they don’t want to be married anymore. Your kid is diagnosed with cancer. Suddenly the thoughts of commitment to God are far away. Despite your best intentions, life jumped up and smacked you in the face. While the previous examples may be on the extreme side (though certainly in this day and age any one of them is within the realm of possibility), the challenge we often face is how to stay focused and committed to Jesus when life gets in the way.
Archives for January 2012
Fraud
My father used to have a sign on his desk that read, “If you were on trial for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?” If you are a Western Christian like myself, there’s a good chance the answer to that question would be ‘no’. In fact, from what I have seen and read, a large number of those professing to believe in Jesus are actually frauds. We claim to follow the teachings of Christ, but in practice we do anything but that. Jesus had strong words for the hypocrites of His day (Matthew 7:4-5; Matthew 15:5-9; Matthew 23:13-15); do you think His position has softened over the years?
Stretch Yourself
You’ve probably heard that the definition of insanity is to continue doing the same things while expecting different results. W.L. Bateman put it this way: “If you keep on doing what you’ve always done, you’ll keep on getting what you’ve always got.” If you continue to put the same amount of commitment into following Christ, you will continue to see the same amount of effectiveness in your life. To see radical change in both your growth and usefulness in the Kingdom, you have to radically alter what you’ve been doing.
Begin with Reflection
As we begin a new year, I urge you to take the time to reflect on your life to determine how you might more effectively carry out the commands of Christ. Reflection is not something that most of us do well, if at all. In our hurried lifestyles, we spare little time for introspection that could lead to improvement in the areas of life most important to us. Every January brings a fresh and exciting new start brimming with possibilities; these opportunities will pass us by unless we carefully pause and consider how we might make the best use of them. So set aside an hour or two this week to spend in prayer, asking God to reveal aspects of your life where you could serve Him better. I think you’ll find it to be some of the most useful time you have ever spent.