Parties ... big bang ... resolutions ...
Parties ... big bang ... resolutions ...
It seemed to be the norm to usher in the new year with parties, fireworks and big bang. Perhaps to celebrate the joy of a year's completion (good or bad), or to look forward with anticipation and excitement to the new one. Yet amidst all these merry-making, get-together with friends, loud music, stage management and planning, drinks and cheers, everything returned to normal after the big bang ... struggles continue, bacon needs to be brought in, bills need to be paid, children need to be tended to, and the world is still as chaotic as it was (or worse ...)
It seemed to also be the norm to draft up list and list of resolutions - what one determine to work towards in a fresh new year which was a let-down in the one past. Does resolutions work?? Perhaps for some, but no longer for me as they only made me feel more and more depressed when I looked into what I've failed to accomplish.
On this new year day, I thought I'll share a short devotion from the book "Experiencing God day-by-day" by Henry T. Blackaby and Richard Blackaby ...
"Resolutions
Read: John 21:15
Jesus has a wonderful way of restoring us when we fail Him! He does not humiliate us. He does not criticize us. He does not ask us to make a resolution to try harder. Rather, He takes us aside and asks us to reaffirm our love for Him.
Peter miserably failed his Lord when he fled with the other disciples from the Garden of Gethsemane. Later, he publicly denied that he even knew Jesus. Peter must have wondered if he had been capable of being Jesus' disciple when he was unfaithful to Jesus in His most crucial hour.
As you begin a new year, you may be painfully aware that you have failed your Lord in many ways. Perhaps you were not faithful. Perhaps you disobeyed His Word to you. Perhaps you denied Him by the way you lived. Jesus will take you aside, as He did Peter. He will not berate you. He will not humiliate you. He will ask you to examine your love for Him. He asked Peter, "Do you love Me?" If you answer, like Peter's, is "Yes, Lord," He will reaffirm His will for you. If you truly love Him, you will obey Him (John 14:15). Jesus does not need your resolutions, your recommitments, or your promises to try harder this year.
If your resolve to obey God last year did not help you to be faithful, it will not make you successful this year. Jesus asks for your love. If you truly love Him, your service for Him in the new year will be of the quality that He desires."
It seemed to be the norm to usher in the new year with parties, fireworks and big bang. Perhaps to celebrate the joy of a year's completion (good or bad), or to look forward with anticipation and excitement to the new one. Yet amidst all these merry-making, get-together with friends, loud music, stage management and planning, drinks and cheers, everything returned to normal after the big bang ... struggles continue, bacon needs to be brought in, bills need to be paid, children need to be tended to, and the world is still as chaotic as it was (or worse ...)
It seemed to also be the norm to draft up list and list of resolutions - what one determine to work towards in a fresh new year which was a let-down in the one past. Does resolutions work?? Perhaps for some, but no longer for me as they only made me feel more and more depressed when I looked into what I've failed to accomplish.
On this new year day, I thought I'll share a short devotion from the book "Experiencing God day-by-day" by Henry T. Blackaby and Richard Blackaby ...
"Resolutions
Read: John 21:15
Jesus has a wonderful way of restoring us when we fail Him! He does not humiliate us. He does not criticize us. He does not ask us to make a resolution to try harder. Rather, He takes us aside and asks us to reaffirm our love for Him.
Peter miserably failed his Lord when he fled with the other disciples from the Garden of Gethsemane. Later, he publicly denied that he even knew Jesus. Peter must have wondered if he had been capable of being Jesus' disciple when he was unfaithful to Jesus in His most crucial hour.
As you begin a new year, you may be painfully aware that you have failed your Lord in many ways. Perhaps you were not faithful. Perhaps you disobeyed His Word to you. Perhaps you denied Him by the way you lived. Jesus will take you aside, as He did Peter. He will not berate you. He will not humiliate you. He will ask you to examine your love for Him. He asked Peter, "Do you love Me?" If you answer, like Peter's, is "Yes, Lord," He will reaffirm His will for you. If you truly love Him, you will obey Him (John 14:15). Jesus does not need your resolutions, your recommitments, or your promises to try harder this year.
If your resolve to obey God last year did not help you to be faithful, it will not make you successful this year. Jesus asks for your love. If you truly love Him, your service for Him in the new year will be of the quality that He desires."
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