New Year’s Resolutions

Have you made a list? Lose weight. Spend less; save more. Be more organized. While we are barraged with ads full of ways to make our physical lives better every January, Christians can think of the new year as a time to revisit our spiritual lives which are much more important than any earthly provisions.

Renewal is a biblical idea. God renews our spirit and soul, washes away and forgives sin. We know that in the Old Testament, God’s people were constantly in need of renewal and a return to God’s ways as they fell away and were returned:

• Ps. 65:3 As far as our transgressions, thou shalt purge them away.
• Ps. 51:2 Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me and I shall be whiter than snow. Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
• Isa. 1:16 Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. I will turn my hand upon you and purge away the dross…”

Jesus and his early followers taught of spiritual renewal through Christ’s blood and baptism:

• John 3:3-6 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say into thee, Except a man be born of born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus said unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
• John 5:24 He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death into life.
• Acts 2:38 Then Peter said. Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
• Rom. 6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us were baptized into Jesus Christ, were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For as we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection.
• I John 4:10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be a propitiation for our sins.
• Acts 26:18 To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is within me.

When we are in Christ’s light, we have seemingly endless opportunities to do good things and spread his light to dispel the darkness in the world. We can resolve to do many things in 2014. Just a few: read God’s word, tell others about his goodness, help those less fortunate that we are, help in an Estes ministry, teach Bible class, take food to the sick, send cards of encouragement, even smile at someone who is down.

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A Mindset of Thankfulness

It is such a blessing that we are able to experience the thanksgiving season. We cherish the time spent with family and friends, and we focus on the things in life that we should be thankful for. What a great practice it is to count your blessings as it is said, but what about a thankful mindset as a daily practice?

More often than not we get caught up in the hustle and bustle of our busy lives, and we forget the good. We are so surrounded by a world that does not have the same Godlike viewpoint. Our thoughts turn to sadness or heartache, and we are most often faced with an ever-popular media output of constant news that outlines the horrors of humanity. It is no wonder that we need to set aside a day like Thanksgiving to be thankful. However, the Bible speaks of our need to be set apart from the world, a peculiar people. A thankful attitude is one way that we can separate ourselves from our world. First Corinthians chapter 1 verses 4-5 say, “ I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. For in him you have been enriched in every way, in all your speaking and in all your knowledge.” Paul here is telling the Corinthians, who had their fair share of challenges, that even amidst all the strife and trial he was still mindful that because of the gift that Jesus gave to the world he could still be thankful. Paul was not only thankful for the gift of the cross, but also thankful for his Corinthian brethren. Too often we get wrapped up in what someone might have done, or their past, and we forget they are God’s children just like we are.

In this season of thankfulness, I challenge us to be the kind of thankful that sets us apart from the world. “Thank [God] in everything [no matter what the circumstances may be, be thankful and give thanks], for this is the will of God for you [who are] in Christ Jesus [the Revealer and Mediator of that will]” (I Thessalonians 5: 18). We have an opportunity on a daily basis as God’s people to show the world that we are the light of the world, given a holy mission to seek and save the lost. Our spirit must always remain thankful even in the times we think we cannot, because it is through our thanksgiving that we glorify God.

Psalm 118: 1 “Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.” Let us remember that as Christians, we don’t need a season to be thankful. We have the opportunity through Jesus to thank God each and every day. The question that we should be asking ourselves this season is, “How thankful to God am I daily?” I think once we can answer that question with sincerity we will really be able to grow in spirit and in truth.

–Steven Marise