January is the month of starting over.
It is the month of New Year's resolutions...promises to start over.
Think about the kinds of resolutions you normally make at the beginning of January each year...here are some of the classics:
-- "I am going to eat better."
-- "I am going to exercise more."
-- "I am going to stop smoking."
-- "I am going to watch TV less."
-- "I am going to save more money."
What do they all have in common? They all require a change in your life...and they all express your desire to start over.
The problem is, most of us eventually fail when it comes to our New Year's resolutions.
Most of the time, those old habits creep back into our lives...sometimes quickly...sometimes bit-by-bit...until we reach the point where, basically, nothing has changed.
Old habits die hard.
Why? Because, if we are honest, we must admit that our hearts are not in it.
Our "heads" tell us that we WANT to change, that we WANT to start over...and we convince ourselves it is true. "THIS time it will be different. THIS time I really mean it."
But, the truth is, it is your "head" talking. Not your heart.
The same thing happens when it comes to your relationship with God.
Something happens in your life and you decide that you need to get closer to Him. Usually, the plan goes something like this...
1. I will pray more.
2. I will read my Bible more.
3. I will go to church more.
4. I will give more money to the church.
5. I will be a better person.
In other words, the plan is to "butter up" the Lord so He will be so impressed with you that He can't help but send showers of blessings your way.
But, in the end, the plan is no more useful than your annual January plan to start over, because these promises to God are no more than New Year's resolutions in disguise.
They are made with your head and not with your heart.
What if Jesus had made resolutions rather than promises? What if He had said in His head something like this: "Yes, I will go to the cross, beaten and bloodied. And, once there, I will let the Roman guards drive spikes into my hands and feet. I will wear a crown of thorns. I will take on all of the sins of all mankind. And, I will suffer and die because that is the only way you can get to heaven."
If this had been only a New Year's resolution, do you think Jesus would have gone through with the plan? Or, would He have changed His mind at some point, like when He was on the Mount of Transfiguration...or as He rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday...or in the Upper Room...or even in the Garden of Gesthemene?
He had plenty of opportunities to turn around a go the other way.
What if He had decided to just forget the whole plan and go back to the glories of heaven where He could share eternity in the presence of angels and on streets of gold?
Who could have blamed Him?
The good news is that Jesus did not make His promise with His head, He made it with His heart. In His heart, He said, "I love you so much that nothing will stop me from dying for you. And living for you...so you can eventually live with Me."
If you really want to get closer to God during the new year, then it is not your head that needs to change. It is not your head that needs to start over. It is your heart.
Give God your heart first, and your life will follow.
Then, you will find yourself doing all of those good things for God, not because you want to butter Him up, but because you are so close to Him already that they are simply reflections of your relationship with Him.
Paul said something similar in Romans, as translated by Eugene Peterson in The Message:
"As long as you did what you felt like doing, ignoring God, you didn't have to bother with right thinking or right living, or right ANYTHING for that matter. But do you call that a free life? What did you get out of it? Nothing you're proud of now. Where did it get you? A dead end.
But now that you've found you don't have to listen to sin tell you what to do, and have discovered the delight of listening to God telling you, what a surprise! A whole, healed, put-together life right now, with more and more of life on the way! Work hard for sin your whole life and your pension is death. But God's gift is REAL LIFE, eternal life, delivered by Jesus, our Master." (Romans 6:20-23)
This year, resolve to give up the good intentions of your head and instead, give up your heart...to God. That is the only way to start over with Him in a way that will make a difference not just now, but forever.
May you find a new life with the Lord during this new year,
Happy New Year!
Pastor Greg
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Christmas Babies
I was a Christmas Eve baby.
I turn another year older, every year, on December 24.
If I had a dime for every time someone commented about my Christmas Eve birth date while looking at my driver's license, I could go ahead and retire right now.
It is a unique thing. Most people are not born on Christmas Eve. I am part of a small circle of people when it comes to the date of my birth. And, in a way, that is one of the fun things about having a birthday that starts with the numbers 12/24.
On the other hand, after awhile, it isn't so much fun when the day which is supposed to be all about you is, instead, all about something else entirely...every single year.
Don't get me wrong. I love Christmas Eve.
I would love Christmas Eve even if it wasn't my birthday. Christmas Eve should always be a special day. It should always be a meaningful day. Many of my most wonderful childhood memories revolve around Christmas Eve.
I just wish that my own special and meaningful day was a little farther removed from it, that's all. I think, if I had the choice, I would like my birthday to be in June instead.
Why?
Well, let's just say, it is hard to compete.
When I grew up, our Christmas Eve celebration was HUGE. Everyone on my Dad's side of the family gathered at Aunt Margaret's house, and after a delicious dinner, we would start opening presents...and opening presents...and opening presents...one-by-one...everyone taking their own individual turn. By the time it was over, the house looked like it had been hit by a bomb.
Then, everyone (and I mean everyone) would drive over to our house, where we would start all over again...opening more presents.
After that, everyone (yes, everyone) would drive to my grandparent's house, where we would all open still more presents.
Sometime after midnight, Mom, Dad, and my sister and I would wind our way back home, with a trunk full of toys and dreams of what Santa Claus would put under our tree the next morning.
I wish everyone could have the kind of Christmas Eve experiences I had as a child.
There was just one little thing that always sort of nagged at me during all of the eating, and driving, and gift opening, and laughing, and talking, and celebrating...
...in the midst of all of that Christmas Eve frenzy, what happened to my birthday? Basically, it just got lost.
Not that it was forgotten. My family never forgot my birthday. It was more like it just got blown away in the swirl of Christmas, like a new-fallen snowflake that lands for just a moment on your window pane before a blast of winter wind sweeps it away.
My birthday would land for just a moment on Christmas Eve, before getting blasted by the hustle and bustle of Christmas.
As I look around today, I think Jesus knows exactly how I felt back then.
Because His birthday is getting lost in the craziness of Christmas too.
It goes something like this...
...you start shopping early to get the best bargains; get the outdoor lights up before the weather turns bad; buy the cards and the stamps, write the cards and address the envelopes and don't forget to put them in the mail; get the tree, put it up, decorate it and decorate the inside of the house too, wrap the gifts and get them in the mail, go see the Nutcracker or "A Christmas Carol" or at least a Christmas movie and besuretobuythegroceriesandmakethecookiesandbakethe piesandgoseeSantaandhisreindeerandtakeadrivetolookatlightsandcleancleancleanthehousefor
companyandtrytogettochurchandcookamealthatwon'tsoonbeforgottenandopenthepresentsand
thencleanitallupandputitallawayforanotheryear!
That is a lot of competition for Jesus.
The day which is supposed to be all about Him has become, instead, all about something else entirely...every single year.
He even gets lost at the stores right now. Go out and try to find an outdoor Nativity display in a major chain store this year. We have been looking for one and cannot find it at any of the "big" stores.
According to a clerk at K-mart, they just "didn't get any in this year."
Interesting. You can buy plenty of snowmen, and reindeer, and carolers by the dozen. No problem finding trees, or candy canes, or even stars.
But, try to get your hands on a Nativity scene. You know, the one with the baby Jesus who was born on the day after Christmas Eve. You will probably find, as we have, that they just "didn't get any in this year."
Actually, I think we should move Jesus' birthday to sometime in June. Keep Christmas Eve on December 24 and Christmas Day on December 25 with all of the same fantastic frenzy surrounding them.
But, let's commemorate the day when God came to earth as a baby in Bethlehem in June, when He won't get lost and blown away by the arctic blast that has become Christmas.
Maybe then, people will pay more attention to this message that was meant to change the world by changing human hearts...
...I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you, he is Christ the Lord. (Luke 2:10-11)
The amazing thing is that the baby of Bethlehem grew up to become the Christ on the cross.
Don't let Him get lost and swept away in your Christmas this year.
May love and joy be yours at Christmas and always,
Pastor Greg
I turn another year older, every year, on December 24.
If I had a dime for every time someone commented about my Christmas Eve birth date while looking at my driver's license, I could go ahead and retire right now.
It is a unique thing. Most people are not born on Christmas Eve. I am part of a small circle of people when it comes to the date of my birth. And, in a way, that is one of the fun things about having a birthday that starts with the numbers 12/24.
On the other hand, after awhile, it isn't so much fun when the day which is supposed to be all about you is, instead, all about something else entirely...every single year.
Don't get me wrong. I love Christmas Eve.
I would love Christmas Eve even if it wasn't my birthday. Christmas Eve should always be a special day. It should always be a meaningful day. Many of my most wonderful childhood memories revolve around Christmas Eve.
I just wish that my own special and meaningful day was a little farther removed from it, that's all. I think, if I had the choice, I would like my birthday to be in June instead.
Why?
Well, let's just say, it is hard to compete.
When I grew up, our Christmas Eve celebration was HUGE. Everyone on my Dad's side of the family gathered at Aunt Margaret's house, and after a delicious dinner, we would start opening presents...and opening presents...and opening presents...one-by-one...everyone taking their own individual turn. By the time it was over, the house looked like it had been hit by a bomb.
Then, everyone (and I mean everyone) would drive over to our house, where we would start all over again...opening more presents.
After that, everyone (yes, everyone) would drive to my grandparent's house, where we would all open still more presents.
Sometime after midnight, Mom, Dad, and my sister and I would wind our way back home, with a trunk full of toys and dreams of what Santa Claus would put under our tree the next morning.
I wish everyone could have the kind of Christmas Eve experiences I had as a child.
There was just one little thing that always sort of nagged at me during all of the eating, and driving, and gift opening, and laughing, and talking, and celebrating...
...in the midst of all of that Christmas Eve frenzy, what happened to my birthday? Basically, it just got lost.
Not that it was forgotten. My family never forgot my birthday. It was more like it just got blown away in the swirl of Christmas, like a new-fallen snowflake that lands for just a moment on your window pane before a blast of winter wind sweeps it away.
My birthday would land for just a moment on Christmas Eve, before getting blasted by the hustle and bustle of Christmas.
As I look around today, I think Jesus knows exactly how I felt back then.
Because His birthday is getting lost in the craziness of Christmas too.
It goes something like this...
...you start shopping early to get the best bargains; get the outdoor lights up before the weather turns bad; buy the cards and the stamps, write the cards and address the envelopes and don't forget to put them in the mail; get the tree, put it up, decorate it and decorate the inside of the house too, wrap the gifts and get them in the mail, go see the Nutcracker or "A Christmas Carol" or at least a Christmas movie and besuretobuythegroceriesandmakethecookiesandbakethe piesandgoseeSantaandhisreindeerandtakeadrivetolookatlightsandcleancleancleanthehousefor
companyandtrytogettochurchandcookamealthatwon'tsoonbeforgottenandopenthepresentsand
thencleanitallupandputitallawayforanotheryear!
That is a lot of competition for Jesus.
The day which is supposed to be all about Him has become, instead, all about something else entirely...every single year.
He even gets lost at the stores right now. Go out and try to find an outdoor Nativity display in a major chain store this year. We have been looking for one and cannot find it at any of the "big" stores.
According to a clerk at K-mart, they just "didn't get any in this year."
Interesting. You can buy plenty of snowmen, and reindeer, and carolers by the dozen. No problem finding trees, or candy canes, or even stars.
But, try to get your hands on a Nativity scene. You know, the one with the baby Jesus who was born on the day after Christmas Eve. You will probably find, as we have, that they just "didn't get any in this year."
Actually, I think we should move Jesus' birthday to sometime in June. Keep Christmas Eve on December 24 and Christmas Day on December 25 with all of the same fantastic frenzy surrounding them.
But, let's commemorate the day when God came to earth as a baby in Bethlehem in June, when He won't get lost and blown away by the arctic blast that has become Christmas.
Maybe then, people will pay more attention to this message that was meant to change the world by changing human hearts...
...I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you, he is Christ the Lord. (Luke 2:10-11)
The amazing thing is that the baby of Bethlehem grew up to become the Christ on the cross.
Don't let Him get lost and swept away in your Christmas this year.
May love and joy be yours at Christmas and always,
Pastor Greg
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