Thursday, January 7, 2010

Shattered Resolutions

A New Year has begun … and New Year Resolutions have already been broken. If I had a dollar for every time I broke a New Years or Birthday resolution, I could probably buy some cool stuff.

But I digress…

Whether it’s going to the gym more often, eating smarter, getting organized, being a better _________, or (insert your resolution here), we all make them and we all break them.

What do we do when we fall short of the goal? Why do we so often just give up after we only fail ONCE? Why do we put so much importance to dates? Why are you going to wait until 2011 to re-try? So what if we screwed up our resolutions, tomorrow we start again.

And again. And again.

And this is what discipline looks like.

“Then Peter came to him and asked, “Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?”

“No, not seven times,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven!” (Matthew 18:21-22)

Four hundred and ninety do-over’s. And I’m sure Jesus wasn’t being literal. Even so, 490 opportunities vs. 365 days? I like those odds…

You see, I’ve yet to meet a reasonably sane person, who, when they slip and fall, remain on the ground despite the fact that only their pride is hurt. In reality, if you slip and fall, you get up as quickly as possible and look around to make sure that nobody saw your goof-up.

Failure is only failure if we refuse to get up again.

Discipline is not an easy thing to endure. It takes time to develop.

Because of this, we’re going to take the next few weeks sharing about the disciplines of the Christian life. We ARE NOT going to talk about daily checklists. Rather, we’re going to share with each other the ways that God helps us to grow in His likeness. It’s His life within us that changes our habits. We just have to open ourselves to those changes.

That involves getting back up.

Again and again.

Victory doesn’t happen overnight.

But it WILL come.

So keep getting up, for today is a new day.

Lamentations 3:21-26
Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this: The faithful love of the LORD never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.

I say to myself, “The LORD is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!”
The LORD is good to those who depend on him, to those who search for him. So it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the LORD.

2 Peter 1:3-11
By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.

In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.

The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But those who fail to develop in this way are shortsighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins.

So, dear brothers and sisters, work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen. Do these things, and you will never fall away. Then God will give you a grand entrance into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Ecclesiastes 12:1-7
Don’t let the excitement of youth cause you to forget your Creator. Honor him in your youth before you grow old and say, “Life is not pleasant anymore.” Remember him before the light of the sun, moon, and stars is dim to your old eyes, and rain clouds continually darken your sky. Remember him before your legs—the guards of your house—start to tremble; and before your shoulders—the strong men—stoop. Remember him before your teeth—your few remaining servants—stop grinding; and before your eyes—the women looking through the windows—see dimly.

Remember him before the door to life’s opportunities is closed and the sound of work fades. Now you rise at the first chirping of the birds, but then all their sounds will grow faint.

Remember him before you become fearful of falling and worry about danger in the streets; before your hair turns white like an almond tree in bloom, and you drag along without energy like a dying grasshopper, and the caperberry no longer inspires sexual desire. Remember him before you near the grave, your everlasting home, when the mourners will weep at your funeral.

Yes, remember your Creator now while you are young, before the silver cord of life snaps and the golden bowl is broken. Don’t wait until the water jar is smashed at the spring and the pulley is broken at the well. For then the dust will return to the earth, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.
(NLT)

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