by John Toomey
As we embark on a new year, we have an opportunity to start fresh in many ways. Many people decide that they will suddenly become members of a gym and get up at the crack of dawn to work out. Many people decide they will start a diet and lose a lot weight. Many people decide that they will become a new person and leave all of their bad habits in the past. All of these goals are admirable, but odds are they will all fail. Why? I would submit to you because they are all dependance on us doing something about ourselves. Our flesh is weak and our will is not as strong as we think it is. I know in my own life that I struggle with the same things over and over and can never and will never defeat them alone.
I must learn that if there is anything good in me it is because of Christ.
I must learn that if there is it was not for the grace and mercy of God, I would be destined for hell.
I have decided this year to do none of that. I have decided that my goal for 2015 is to be grow closer in my walk with Christ. If you have been a Christian any amount of time you have heard people say things like “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord”. Did you know that is only part of a Bible verse? Have you ever taken time to read the passage in the Bible where this phrase is? It is found in Joshua 24:15.
“And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve theLord.” – Joshua 24:15 (KJV)
Have you ever read the verses before and after it?
14 Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the Lord.
15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
16 And the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the Lord, to serve other gods;
17 For the Lord our God, he it is that brought us up and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and which did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way wherein we went, and among all the people through whom we passed:
I submit to you that we must live our lives for God with sincerity and truth. I submit to you that we must put away anything that draws us away from Christ. Most of all, I submit to you that we must learn to not repeat the past.
We must stop re-living the past. We must stop blaming others for where we find ourselves. We must stop not trusting God with all things. He is worthy of our trust.
We must stop not trusting God with all things. He is worthy of our trust. He is worthy of our devotion.
Are we worthy of His?
Written by John P. Toomey, Licensed Minister at Project Hope Again