New Year
The new year is here. It’s common during this time of year for many people to plan for the future and start anew. According to one newspaper, The top three New Years’ resolutions were losing weight, quitting some form of nasty habit, and spending less money. However, there is a forth resolution is what I’m interested with this morning. The forth most popular New Years’ resolution this year is to “be a better person”. That’s the same message Paul had for the church of Ephesus. He said to make the best use of your time, understand the Lord’s will, encourage one another, and to thank God for all things. Another way to look at this is to set your priorities, be positive in your attitude and work to foster your relationships, all for the glory of God.
Paul spoke of this same theme in his letter to the Philippians and addressed these ideas as (Philippians 3:13 ESV), "this one thing I do." Now he obviously did more than one thing. He made tents. He preached sermons and established churches. He healed the sick. He wrote letters. He did a lot of different things.
But he said, "The top priority in my life is to press on toward the goal for the prize for which God has called me." He set this as his number one goal.
A while back an expert on the subject of time management was speaking to a group of business students. After speaking to them for a while, he said, “Okay, it’s time for a quiz.” He set a one-gallon, wide mouthed jar on the table in front of him. Then he produced about a dozen fist-sized rocks and carefully placed them in the jar, one at a time. When it was filled to the top, and no more rocks would fit inside, he asked, “Is this jar full?” Everyone in the class said, “Yes.” “Really?” he said. Then he reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of pebbles. He dumped some of the pebbles into the jar and shook it, causing the small stones to work themselves down into the spaces between the big rocks. Then he smiled and asked the group once more, “Is the jar full?” By this time the class was on to him. “Probably not,” one of them said. “Good!” he replied. And he reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand. He started dumping the sand in and it filled all the spaces between the rocks and the gravel. Once more he asked, “Is this jar full?” “No!” the class shouted. Again he said, “Good!” Then he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour in the water until the jar was filled to the brim. Then he looked back at the class and asked, “What’s the point of this illustration?” One eager beaver raised his hand and said, “The point is, no matter how full your schedule is, if you try really hard, you can always fit something more into it!”
“No,” the speaker replied, “that’s not the point. The truth this illustration teaches us is this: If you don’t put the big rocks in first, you’ll never get them in at all.” Sometimes we like to think of our lives are being able to fit anything and everything in. So, we try to fit it all in. In the process, sometimes we don’t get around to completing what we wanted to get done. But, priorities are just like those big rocks. If we don’t place our important events and goals at the top of our priorities, we may not be able to get them done at all.
We all have big rocks in our lives. What are yours? They should include these: each day drawing nearer to God, spending time with Him in prayer, and seeking His guidance for your life through reading His Word. Remember to put these big rocks in first or you’ll never get them in at all. It was Jesus who said in Matthew 6:33 (ESV), "seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
Jesus made it clear that the kingdom of God was to be at the top of our priorities. Things such as worship, prayer, reading scripture as well as taking care of our fellow men and women should be right at the beginning of that list. Paul described it this way in his letter to the Philippians. Whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” (Philippians 4:8 ESV) This is where our priorities should be set for the upcoming year.
Paul showed that there is more to life than just prioritising what we do with our time and resources. It’s also how we look at things that determines what we will accomplish. For example is the gas half full or is it half empty ? If we focus on events of the past, we may lose sight of the future. Don’t focus on what’s behind you. You can’t change that. Instead, focus on where you want to be, what you want to accomplish and where you want to go. Look to the honourable, pure and commendable things.
Focusing on the positive aspects of where we are can lead to wonderful things. Without changing the events themselves, a positive attitude can change how you perceive those events. It can also affect those around you. A negative attitude seems to fuel other negative attitudes. But, a positive attitude can change the mood of an environment and help build progress towards our goals and priorities as well as encourage those around you.
Paul’s priority was to teach the church how to act. He focused on the honourable things with pure motives. If we lived by only those words, think about how much easier it would be to do virtually everything. If we dropped our disagreements, and worked out our differences, wouldn’t it be easier to get along? How would we deal with our neighbours, work mates, friends and loved ones?
Based on these words of the Apostle Paul, his motives and his goals, this is my challenge to you. Choose one person that you need to create a better relationship with and pray for them for the next six weeks. Pray for their welfare. Pray for their success. Pray for their health. If you haven’t prayed for this person before, it’s a good start at improving your relationship with them. As you pray for them, your attitude toward them will soften. As you think of them in positive terms, your attitude towards them will also become more positive.
We’re told to pray for those who persecute us. But not only those who are against us, but those who we would like to become closer to. Pray for a boss, a co-worker, your spouse, a parent, a sibling, a son, a daughter, a friend, an enemy, anyone. Pick someone and petition God on their behalf.
To conclude this is an honourable approach to the new year. Spiritual priorities, attitude and getting along with people all will lead us to a happier and more God fearing life. God has always had a positive outlook towards our lives. Man sinned and He immediately promised to send a saviour. In Jeremiah 31God described His relationship with us. He said “I have loved you with an everlasting love.”
It’s this everlasting love that convinced the great writer, Josh McDowell to convert to Christianity. He studied for years the historical, archeological and physical evidence for signs of God. But in the end, it was the love of Jesus that convinced him it was true. It was God’s priorities, God’s attitude and God’s relationships that showed him that the Almighty cares for him, as well as us.
For the new year let us set our priorities with God in mind and we will be blessed. Set our attitude on positive things and we will succeed more often than fail. Focus on our relationships and they will flourish in time. These are worthy New Years’ resolutions… and one’s which we can be proud to strive for.