I AM THE NEW YEAR; I am unused, unspotted, without blemish. I
stretch before you three hundred and sixty-five days long. I will present each
day in its turn, a new leaf in the book of life for you to place upon it your
imprint. Each hour of every day, I will give you sixty minutes that have never
known the use of man. Blank and pure it remains for you to fill them with sixty
jeweled seconds of love, hope, endeavor, patience and trust in God. I am coming
– but once past, I can never be recalled. Make me your best ever!
If the same excuses
that people use for not attending worship are applied to other important areas
of life, it’s easy to see how inconsistent our logic can be. For example, 10
reasons not to take a bath: * I was forced to bathe as a child. * People who
make soap are only after your money. * I bathe on special occasions like
Christmas and Easter. * People who take baths are hypocrites – they think they
are cleaner than everyone else. * I would bathe, but there are so many
different kinds of soap, and I can’t decide which one is best. * I used to
bathe, but it got boring so I stopped. * The bathroom is never warm enough in
the winter or cool enough in the summer. * I’ll start bathing when I get older
and dirtier. * I just don’t have the time to bathe. * None of my friends take
baths or shower regularly.
Author Louis L’Amour
once wrote a short story about a man caught stealing a book from a library. The
attendant noticed that the man was acting strangely while looking at the books.
He would take books from the shelf and run his hands over them before putting
them back. When he took down a copy of Shakespeare’s “King Lear,” he ran his
hands over the leather cover and then put the book in his coat and ran from the
library. The attendant chased and caught him. When asked for the book, the man
gave the reason for his act. He said he loved books and libraries but could not
read. He liked the feel of the book so he took it. Imagine, having such a love
for books and not being able to read! Unfortunately for our thief, his love of
books did not enrich him. Neither did it enable him to enjoy the adventure of
reading what he obviously cherished so much.
[2 Timothy 2:15]
Isn’t it possible that we might do the same thing with God’s book? That we
might have a love for it that goes no further than our friend who was unable to
read? How often do we see Bibles displayed prominently in homes and other
places and know that they are not ever opened, much less read. And like Louis
L’Amour’s subject gained no real, lasting benefit from the books he could not
read, so the unopened, unread Bible gives no benefit to those who only own or
display it. If we are to truly benefit from the wisdom of God, then we should
seek it from His revelation to us, the Bible. If we are to be the people of
God, then we should know what that means. And the source of that information is
in the Scripture. In the end, being unable to read even though you might want
to and being able to read but not doing so is the same. Jesus once challenged
his followers with “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord’, and do not do what I say?”
(Luke 6:46). To follow Jesus means to abide by his teaching both to learn and
to imitate. This is the essence of what it means to be a disciple. At the end
of the Sermon on the Mount, (Matthew 7:24ff) Jesus told a parable of two
builders. It began with “...everyone who hears these words of mine and puts
them into practice…” It seems that just naming the name of Jesus and following
our own consciences is not sufficient to be truly obedient. We must be guided
by His teaching. “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a
workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of
truth.” Hindsight is 2020 and there is no excuse this year for ignorance of God.
God is a giver.
Better yet, God is the giver. And
when God gives, He goes all out. He doesn’t give a little of what He’s able to.
He doesn’t give only some of what He’s willing to. No, when God decides to
give, He goes big, because He is the
giver. From the beginning of life to eternal life, God is the giver. In 1 Timothy 6:13, Paul refers to God as the one who
“gives life to all things.” He could and can, because He’s the giver. Romans 6:23 declares that God has made available the
free gift of eternal life. He did and has, because He is the giver. Since the universe was spoken into existence, no one has
given more than God. And when the world comes to an end, no one will have given
more than God; For God gives generously, graciously, mercifully, abundantly,
compassionately, completely, consistently, and willingly. Because God is the giver, He can and does shower us
with “every good and perfect gift” (James 1:17). Because God is the giver, He can and does supply every
need of ours (Philippians 4:19). And, in order to meet the world’s greatest
need - the need for a savior - the
giver gave not just a piece, not a portion, not a section, not a sliver of the
greatest gift ever given, but He gave all of His Son (John 3:16). He went big,
because He is the giver. In Hebrews
10:12, Christ is referred to as the “single sacrifice for sins.” God didn’t
just give His Son, He sacrificed His Son. A sacrifice, by nature, is not an
easy thing to give. And yet God, being the
giver, went all out and gave all to us and for us. As we contemplate, plan, and
commit to how much we’re going to give back in 2020, let us consider what we’ve
generously been given by God, the
giver.
[Romans 8:31-32] This
is the time of the year when our thoughts are centered on those who influence
our lives the most and we are willing to sacrifice monetarily to express our
love for them with a unique gift for each one. Jesus is unique. In fact, the
phrase “only begotten Son” in the NKJV’s translation of John 3:16 could
arguably be rendered “only Son” (ESV), meaning that Jesus was God’s unique Son.
Yes, those who are Christians are sons and daughters of God, but Jesus is
special. There’s no one else like Him. Jesus was both God and man. He was both
king and servant. He was both a lion and a lamb. He was both the high priest
and the sacrifice. No other religion has someone like Jesus. According to one
fanciful but insightful story, a man became lost in his travels and wandered
into a bed of quicksand. Confucius saw the man’s predicament and said, “It is
evident that men should stay out of places such as this. “Next, Buddha observed
the situation and said, "Let that man’s plight be a lesson to the rest of
the world.” Then, Muhammad came by and said to the sinking man, “Alas, it is
the will of God.” Finally, Jesus appeared. “Take my hand, brother,” He said,
“and I will save you.” Indeed, of all the world’s religions that have ever
existed, Christianity stands alone in having a loving Savior. Christianity is
unique because of Jesus. Jesus’ uniqueness makes His church unique. He is the
founder and foundation of a special assembly (Matthew 16:16-18; 1 Corinthians
3:11). Nowhere else will you find a body of people who serve a founder who gave
His very life to take away the sin of the world (John 1:29; Romans 5:8; 2 Corinthians
5:21; 1 John 2:2). No other group of people could say that their founder left
heaven itself, came to earth, lived as a man, served mankind, suffered and died
for mankind, before returning to His rightful place in heaven (Philippians
2:5-11). The church belongs to Jesus. The church worships Jesus. The church
preaches Jesus. Indeed, the church’s identity is found in Jesus, and it is He
who makes the church so distinctive.
“The Gift That Saved
a Life” by Larry Kramer; Washington Post,
December 24, 1977: David Schafer, 29, the overnight shift as a policeman in Bettendorf, Iowa.
The story of why he will be around to celebrate Christmas tomorrow begins last
June. Schafer's wife, Terri, decided she was going to buy her husband a
practical Christmas gift. So she drove to "Fifth Avenue Uniforms" in
nearby Moline, Ill., to pick up a bulletproof vest. She saw
the vest she wanted - a 3-pound number with a blue cloth lining. "But frankly,"
she said, "with four children, I just didn't have the $127.50 cash to pay
out.” I asked Janie Dennhardt (the salesgirl) if she would hold it for me and I
could pay $20 a month or so on layaway and pick up the vest right before
Christmas. She didn't hesitate for a second. She just said, 'Take it with you
now; you never know what might happen between now and Christmas.'" David
Schafer started wearing the vest right away. The new lightweight Kevlar vest
was developed with a $1.5 million grant from the Law Enforcement Assistance
Administration. On October 1, Schafer was responding to a robbery call at a
drug store in Bettendorf.
He saw the suspect's car and walked over to it, "...with my gun still in
the holster and ordered the man to get out of the car." Schafer recalls,
"He opened the door and was about half way out when he suddenly pointed a
.45 at me and fired dead center in my stomach from about three feet away."
Schafer drew his revolver and fired six shots - all missing the suspect - and blacked
out. He said he didn't remember shooting at the suspect. Another officer with
Schafer shot and killed the suspect. "They took me to St. Luke's Hospital
in an ambulance and found there was a bruise the size of a baseball on my
stomach," Schafer said. "They kept me in intensive care for 24 hours,
but there was no internal damage." On the day of the shooting another
policeman went to the door of the Schafer home to break the news of the
shooting to Terri Schafer. When she saw the grave look on the officer's face, she
feared the worst. She was soon relieved. "It really makes you think."
said David Schafer. "There's no question but that if I wasn't wearing the
vest Terri and the kids would be having Christmas dinner without me." And
there were other happy side effects: The entire Bettendorf 30 man police force got their own
Christmas presents from the department - bulletproof vests. Terri Schafer was
reimbursed for her purchase, and a Christmas gift of her own - a new car from
her husband. Janie Dennhardt, the salesperson whose generosity saved the life
of a policeman, had her own view. "It was really the only decent thing to
do - let them have the vest right away. We deal with police officers all the
time and we trust them. We knew they'd pay for it. There was no sense in making
him wait to Christmas to wear a vest that might save his life."
[Ephesians 6:10-18]
In our, “...stand against the devil’s schemes” we must protect our spirit from
the rulers; the authorities; the powers of this dark world; from the spiritual
forces of evil in the heavenly realms. “...take up the shield of faith, with
which you can extinguish the flaming arrows of the evil one.” God is my shield
(Proverbs 30:5). “What Christ Is To Me?” - The Shield from every dart; The Balm
for every smart; The Sharer of each load; Companion on the road. The Door into
the fold; The Anchor that will hold; The Shepherd of the sheep; The Guardian of
my sleep. The Friend with Whom I talk; The Way by which I walk; The Light to
show the way; The Strength for every day. The Source of my delight; The Song to
cheer the night; The Thought that fills my mind; The Best of all to find–is
Jesus. No greater gift has any person ever received than the Son of God, who
stood as a shield, taking on sin and defeating death, for my eternal
well-being.
There are large signs
buoyed on the Niagara River upstream of the great Niagara Falls that read “POINT OF NO RETURN”.
The signs are there to warn all boats in the area that no matter how strong
their vessel is, no matter how skilled of a captain is in charge, and no matter
how powerful an engine and rudder it has... the river is in control from this
point on. There comes a point that even the best attempts of the vessel to make
it to the river’s shore or to get out of the main current is in vain because the
river is simply too powerful to conquer 750,000 gallons of water per second
rushing over the 170 foot drop of the falls ahead. It is recorded that many
good people with good intentions have been swept over the falls simply because
they didn’t think far enough ahead. Sin has some of the same characteristics as
the falls. A lot of good people with good intentions have been swept into the
abyss of spiritual death simply because they didn’t think far enough ahead.
James 1:14-15 reads: “...but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire,
he is dragged away and enticed. Then after desire is conceived, it gives birth
to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.” It’s interesting
to note that our temptations aren’t sin, and our desires aren’t sin either as
long as we don’t dwell on them. James clearly writes that we do not sin until
our desire has conceived. Sin comes when we act on our desire and then our sin
brings forth spiritual death. There is a fine line between desire and sin that
we must be aware of. That line is the “POINT OF NO RETURN”.
The USS Thresher was
a nuclear submarine that was designed to go to great depths due to its superior
strength. The steel bulkheads were built to withstand great pressure from tons
of sea water. But, on April 9, 1963, it went too deep during routine
deep-diving tests, and was subsequently crushed into little pieces like a
plastic model, whose wreckage was spread over an area of many miles. The
pressure was just too great for the ship to handle. Yet, astonishingly, there
are fish that live even deeper in the sea than the mighty submarine was able to
go. How do they survive? From a scientific standpoint, they have ‘pressure’ on
the inside equal to the water pressure on the outside. How will a Christian survive
the outside pressures of life with all of its trials and temptations? By having
equal ‘pressure,’ or equal force, on the inside. God is the only one who can
provide that as we allow His Spirit and His will to transform our lives, from
the inside out! 1 Corinthians 10:13 says, “No temptation has seized you except
what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted
beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way
out so that you can stand up under it.” In this passage, we see God exerting
His influence in a way that cancels out worldly pressure.
[Psalm 8:4] “...what
is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?” When
we take an honest look at ourselves, it is not difficult to identify with the
Psalmist’s question. Weakness is a discouraging reality of our human nature. We
are all aware of our own shortcomings, but what is particularly frustrating, is
that the stronger we become in faith, the more aware we become as well. Therefore
we find ourselves closer to Christ than ever before, but feeling farther away
(Romans 7:14-25). There is a brighter understanding that comes with maturity.
It causes us to realize how wonderful God’s salvation is! As we grow in our
appreciation of the depths of His awesome love, we begin to understand, in a
way like never before, what it means to sing, “Amazing Grace, how sweet
the sound, that saved a wretch like me.” Praise be to God that He loves
sinners like you and me and sent his Son to rescue mankind from hell (John
3:16-17).