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New Year's Resolutions - 12.31.23 Bulletin
New Year’s Resolutions
I’ll start by saying that I myself am not much of a “New Year’s Resolution” man myself. I see the appeal of it for sure. New Year’s Day is perceived as a new beginning, and a chance to make positive changes. However, in my mind, if you need to make a change such as losing weight, learning a new skill, completing a project or some other typical new year resolution, why not just do it when you think about it? Why wait for a certain day on the calendar if you know it needs to be done? Putting it off until January 1st won’t make it more likely to succeed.
And where could that be more applicable than with matters of faith and obedience? If one is not a baptized believer yet knows they need to be, why wait? You should be clearing your calendar to do so as soon as possible! Do you want to become more familiar with the Bible? Why wait to start reading on January 1st? Just pick it up and start reading it as soon as you think about it. Perhaps you’d like to increase your quality with one of the fruits of the spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) or the Christian virtues (2 Peter 1:5-8). Or it may be that you want to become more prayerful. All of these are noble goals and should not be delayed because of a day on the calendar, or for any other reason for that matter. I am reminded of the words of Ananias, from Acts 22:16 “And now why are you waiting?”. This particular verse is speaking of the importance of being baptized now, not later, yet the sentiment of handling spiritual concerns now applies to many more areas as well. If something needs to be done, it won’t get done by ignoring it.
Now let us think about certain examples from the Bible of delaying, and how it led to negative outcomes. Matthew 25 contains two parables that illustrate the danger of delaying. The 5 foolish virgins in the parable from verses 1-13 delayed to get oil for their lamps, and were denied entry to the wedding. The one-talent man from the parable in verses 14-29 was lazy and did nothing with the money his lord entrusted to him. He delayed, and upon his master’s return he was found to be unfaithful. Perhaps one of the most grim examples of someone delaying is in Acts 24:24-25. We know that Felix heard from Paul about the faith in Christ, yet Felix said, “Go away for now; when I have a convenient time I will call for you.” Yet it would seem Felix never got a “convenient time”, and thus he missed his chance to fully learn what he needed to do to be saved. This is alluded to in the song “Almost persuaded” in the first verse.
But we need not suffer the same fate as Felix. We have examples of people delaying, and we have examples of people who did not delay, but immediately made the corrections they needed. 3,000 souls gladly received on the Day of Pentecost, with no further delay. The Ethiopian eunuch did not delay. The Philippian jailor did not delay. Saul did not delay, and later he wrote in 2 Corinthians 6:2 “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” This is another verse that is directly alluded to in a song, “Today is the day of Salvation, tomorrow may be too late.”
The last time December 31st fell on a Sunday was 2017. The next time it falls on a Sunday will be 2028. On this December 31st, 2023, if there are any changes or improvements you wish to make as regards your spiritual journey, I invite you to consider the words of yet another Hymn, “Why Not Tonight?”, specifically the second verse. “Tomorrow’s sun may never rise to bless thy long deluded sight; this is the time O then be wise, be saved O tonight”.
DY.
- Glad_Tidings_12.31.2023_PDF.pdf (4.07 MB)
