at the corner

Donald Whitney is a friend to our church.  He has come to speak here on two different occasions and has written books that have served many of us (Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life; How Can I Be Sure I’m a Christian?).  Mr. Whitney also writes an e-newsletter and some years ago he came up with this list of 10 questions to ask yourself at the beginning of a new year or at your birthday.  These are very helpful questions that can help us to think about what matters most in the days ahead.  You can go here to visit his newsletter and find 21 more helpful questions; but here are the 10:

1. What’s one thing you could do this year to increase your enjoyment of God?

2. What’s the most humanly impossible thing you will ask God to do this year?

3. What’s the single most important thing you could do to improve the quality of your family life this year?

4. In which spiritual discipline do you most want to make progress this year, and what will you do about it?

5. What is the single biggest time-waster in your life, and what will you do about it this year?

6. What is the most helpful new way you could strengthen your church?

7. For whose salvation will you pray most fervently this year?

8. What’s the most important way you will, by God’s grace, try to make this year different from last year?

9. What one thing could you do to improve your prayer life this year?

10. What single thing that you plan to do this year will matter most in ten years? In eternity?

The year 2010 is rapidly approaching!  So, are you a New Year’s Resolutions person or not?  I tend to go back and forth.  I love the idea of a clean sheet of paper and a fresh start.  I am grateful for a break in the calendar that prompts me to think and pray about the things the Lord is calling me to do in the new year as well as the changes He wants to bring into my life for His glory. However, I also struggle with the frustration of setting super lofty goals only to see them edged out by the reality of the life that God has already given me.  It’s as if I forget that life is a walk and not a sprint.  The calendar changes, but how much of life really changes?  Aren’t we all simply going forward, seeking to be faithful to what God has called us to do, led by His Spirit, seeking to please Him, prioritizing our lives according to what’s important to Him found in His word?

Ours is a walk with the Lord!  Enoch walked with God (Gen. 5:22), Noah walked with God (Gen. 6:9), Abraham and Isaac walked with God (Gen. 48:15).  We are called to walk with God (Ps. 26:3, 84:11, 101:2, 116:9, 119:1).  We are a people called  to walk by the Spirit (Gal. 5:16) and keep in step with the Spirit (Gal. 5:25).   This is always such a refreshing reminder for me.  Life isn’t a series of sprints that tire us out leaving us more hopeless at our inability to keep up with self-imposed efforts to do better!  Life is a walk with the Lord, who is interested in faithful servants, not flashy servants.  So, Moses says in Psalm 90:12, “Teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.”  Isn’t this ultimately what we want as the first day of 2010 comes?  We want the grace of God!  We want His grace to help us to see our lives as important and precious.  We want His grace to help us to number our days, to think well about the time God has given us.  We need His grace to give us wisdom to walk  closely with Him, grace to be faithful to what He’s called us to (not afraid to step out into what He has called us to step out into,  and  courageous to change what He wants us to change).  Ultimately, we need and want  grace to bring more glory to Him in our lives, homes, families, jobs, relationships, and world with the time that He has given us.

For me, just like 2009,  in 2010 I want to seek the Lord with all my heart, I want to love my wife, serve my family, work hard at my job, care for my friends and reach out to my neighbors, and pray for all – filled with the Spirit and empowered by the grace of God.   And, because it is a new year, I believe God will give me and all of us new and fresh ways to do these, because His mercy is new every morning.

So, whether you are a resolutions person or not, may both New Year’s resolutions and faithful living be bound together with the grace of God in our lives  in the year to come.

Grace to you,

Eric