The Winds Of Change

 

       Well, another year is in the books and for most - none too soon! Thankfully, time marches relentlessly onward without asking for either our consent or approval. 2020 is growing cold in the mind and 2021 is already heating up our lives and marching forward without any concerns for you or me. No matter your outlook for the future, 2021 will bring with it days of defeat and success; sadness and great joy; suffering balanced with days of healing; days of loss and others of enrichment; and for some 2021 will bring with it a day of finality. While we are powerless to keep time from sifting through our lives like sand through our fingers, we can do something about how we spend it. While much time will fall wasted at the feet of humanity, as a follower of Christ you can use your time to God’s glory and time will ultimately deposit you into His timeless glory.

[1 John 2:15-17] “Do not love the world or anything in it. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” As followers of Christ we live in the world, but we must not be of the world. In other words, we must separate the good activities of the world from those that are contrary to the Word of God. This is difficult to do at times because we are accustomed to accepting cultural changes especially in the modern world of rapidly changing principles. The difficulty we encounter can be readily seen in the advent of our massive internet. It is easy to see the wonderful way we can spread the good news of Jesus using this medium, but at the same time we can also see the unprecedented evil it has brought into our lives. Between these two extremes we must decide what we can accept and what we must condemn. In relating to culture, the tendency for all of us is to slide to one extreme or another being the creatures of influence that we are. For this reason we must constantly be aware and strive for a greater faith that helps us to overcome the worldly side of inevitable change in our lives. Because the majority of our waking hours are used in activities outside of the influence of Christ, the challenge is even greater and if we are to reach our ultimate goal we must build greater defenses against worldly immorality. The best way to accomplish this goal is to rely heavily on the direction given to us in God’s Word. Of course, we must first know His Word and this knowledge does not come easy – it takes time and diligence. Then we must apply what we have learned – that which pleases God. That takes time and effort as well. Within the church we have many ways to become involved in a world devoted to the cause of our Savior. This should be the most important part of our lives both now and for all eternity, thus deserves our greatest devotion. All of our excuses for living otherwise are unreasonable and can only result in sorrow. “The world and its desires pass away, but the person who does the will of God lives forever” (1 John 2:17). When we do not devote ourselves to the work of the church, do not attend assemblies as we should, do not give of our time and means, etc., more than likely it is because we love the world or we love ourselves more than we love God. “…don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God” (James 4:4). There will not be a single day in 2021 that we will have to encounter alone! We have the One who can lift us up from defeat, comfort us in sadness and sustain us through suffering. The One who can truly place momentary loss into eternal perspective. And we have each other. The church is a wonderful place to seek that which is good and by working together we can overcome the bad influences of the world and live closer to the Savior as we know we should.