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If
you read my greetings in January’s Tidings you are aware that I was
challenged by a daily devotional I was reading to choose a “one-word
theme” for 2008. That one word is
WISDOM.
Did
you seek God’s WISDOM
when it came to making your New Year’s resolutions? Perhaps you're
thinking what does seeking God’s wisdom have to do with resolving
to: quit smoking, lose weight, get in shape, spend more time with
family, pay off bills, do better in school, pray more faithfully,
etc.?
Before
I answer that question let me say that making resolutions put us in
the good company of the wisemen. The wisemen made a resolution.
Their resolution was to find the Messiah whose birth was announced
by a star shining in the east. The major difference between their
resolution and the resolutions that you and I have made is that you
and I know they kept their resolution. Will we not be able to say
the same in another 360 days?
I
firmly believe that when you made your resolution, you made it with
the same desire and passion of the wisemen. I firmly believe that
you made your resolutions because you want to change something you
don’t like about yourself. I also firmly believe that you made it
with every intention of keeping them as we did last year. So how did
that go? How many of last year’s resolutions did you keep? How long
was it before you broke your resolution? What happened?
Life,
yes life happened. The demands of everyday life got in the way. We
became entrenched with the stress, the strain, the hassles, the
schedules of everyday life. We became
BUSY.
Nothing hampers the keeping of resolutions as busyness. This is also
true with regards to our relationship with God. I believe there is a
correlation between your resolutions and your relationship with God.
Do
you know that the word busy is an acronym? I didn’t until just
recently. Do you know what it stands for? It stands for
Being Under
satan’s Yoke.
I
cannot speak for you but usually when I think of someone being under
satan’s yoke I think of someone who is a detriment to society. I
envision someone who persists in doing harm to other people, someone
who participates in criminal activities, or someone who denies the
existence of God. Someone who believes in Jesus certainly does not
come to mind.
Let’s
examine how a Christian could be under satan’s yoke.
Busyness
keeps you and me from developing relationships with Jesus Christ and
family. Busyness keeps you and me from maintaining a vital
connection with God and family throughout the day. Chances are our
busyness is due to the fact that we are tempted to spend, spend,
spend and borrow when we don’t have the money to spend. This causes
us to work six and seven days a week working ten to twelve hours a
day. More time at work and less time at home results in fragmented
families. It also makes keeping the commandment,
“Keep the Sabbath, it is a holy day”
nearly impossible.
Busyness
also overstimulates our minds. Our minds are bombarded with non stop
noise from the radio, I-pods, cell phones, cd’s, TV. Our thoughts
are flooded with images that entice and arouse the desires of the
flesh. Let’s not forget the barrage of newspapers, magazines,
catalogs, sweepstake entries, billboards and news twenty-four hours
a day. Busyness keeps as from heeding the advice of scripture,
“Be still and
know that I am God.”
The
busier and busier we are the less and less time we have for God and
family and thus greatly reducing any hopes of keeping our
resolutions.
The
busier and busier we are the less likely we are to accomplish God’s
intention,
His (God’s)
intent was that now,
through the church, (through you and me)
the manifold wisdom of God should be made known… according to His
eternal purpose
which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
So
how do you defeat satan’s plan?
WISDOM
You
need the wisdom to realize the importance of setting daily alone
time with God. You need the wisdom to keep the Sabbath and be still
in order to know God. You need to set a time and a place to be with
God. Alone time with God does not require anything but a willing
heart.
I
know I cannot nor will God make you set a time and a place to be
alone with Him. I can only assure you that spending time in prayer
and in God’s Word is indispensable for the abundant life God desires
for you. A life filled with His joy, peace, power, love, grace and
Spirit.
I
want to strongly encourage you to make your New Year’s resolution to
be to break the bondage of being busy, of being under satan’s yoke.
To do this you must set a time and place to be with God. I am
certain that making the resolution to break the bondage of being
busy will greatly increase your chances of keeping your other
resolutions of losing weight, getting in shape, paying off bills,
raising grades, strengthening your faith, strengthening
relationships, etc. I say this from experience because it won’t be
just you trying to keep those resolutions, you will be doing it with
the strength of God. Paul said,
“We can do all
things through Christ
who strengthens us.”
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