New Year's Decisions
Behold, now is the time to engage in decisions to carry out in the year ahead, no time like the present. The days may go by slow, but the years fly by, and before you know it, the year will have passed us by. We talked last time about beating a path to the Word, making a b-line for the Bible, hearing from God first thing in the morning before we hear from anyone else or even reach for our phones. For most, this can be a hectic start to the day to be ready to carry out all we are responsible for. But staking our utter dependence upon God before we begin a day is the most wise, most delightful, most beneficial way to start the day knowing that without Him we can do nothing. It is the time of day we are most awake, alert, and responsive to the One who will be speaking to us. Your longings after God, thrusting for holiness, and hunger to be fed with His life-giving bread will most certainly grow more and more in you as you spend time getting to know Him better.
We must set out to have conviction to do it. If we have no desire to do it, we will not fare very well on our course to heaven. It must become a habit, we all have many habits, some we like, probably some we don't, but we usually never fail to do them because they are a habit, so it is with reading the Word. Psalm 119:97, “Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day". Without reading the Word, it will be hard to meditate on it. With that habit, we can be sure to get truths into our heads, Jesus stated in John 17:17, “Thy word is truth". And when we get those truths into our heads, and promises into our hearts, and hopes into our spirits, we will better be able to overcome some of those nemesis of ours. Such as worry, anxiety, pride, and many others. And then a plan is needed to be able to stick to and make this daily reading of the Bible possible. It will take some time and thought to figure out exactly what is best for you. Psalm 143:8, “Let me hear Your loving kindness in the morning. For I will trust in You, teach me the way in which I should walk, for to you I lift up my soul".
Jonathan Edwards, the greatest theologian ever to be born on American soil wrote 70 resolutions at 19 years old and finished in about 2 years time. His 28th resolution read as follows., “To study the Scriptures so steadily, constantly, and frequently, as that I may find, and plainly perceive myself to grow in the knowledge of the same". He was a very gifted young man at such a young age, a Pastor, author, speaker, the Lord gave him many gifts to use and as his first resolution stated, we see more of the kind of Man he was. Resolution 1, “That I will do whatsoever I think to be most to the glory of God, and my own good, profit, and pleasure, in the whole of my duration, without any consideration of the time, whether now, or never so many myriads of ages hence. Resolved to do whatever I think to be my duty, and most for the good and advantage of mankind in general. Resolved, so to do, whatever difficulties I meet with, how many whatsoever, and how great whatsoever”.
So what does all this add up to and what do we have to gain from it? What sayeth the Scriptures? Remember Psalm 119:105, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path". 2 Tim.3:16 gives us great benefits in His Word,” Scripture is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for training in righteousness (now the reason) so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work". I know we can all use more of that. And Who and what will be our great gain? Paul says in Phil.3:8, “More than that (all the things that Paul thought were gain to him), I count but to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord". Emphasis mine. All the Scriptures reveal Him, Jesus, as He reiterates in John 5:39, “You search the Scriptures... it is these that testify about Me".
Let us all get to know, cherish, value, and treasure Him in our reading of the Scriptures this year more than ever before.
Elder Randy Slak
We must set out to have conviction to do it. If we have no desire to do it, we will not fare very well on our course to heaven. It must become a habit, we all have many habits, some we like, probably some we don't, but we usually never fail to do them because they are a habit, so it is with reading the Word. Psalm 119:97, “Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day". Without reading the Word, it will be hard to meditate on it. With that habit, we can be sure to get truths into our heads, Jesus stated in John 17:17, “Thy word is truth". And when we get those truths into our heads, and promises into our hearts, and hopes into our spirits, we will better be able to overcome some of those nemesis of ours. Such as worry, anxiety, pride, and many others. And then a plan is needed to be able to stick to and make this daily reading of the Bible possible. It will take some time and thought to figure out exactly what is best for you. Psalm 143:8, “Let me hear Your loving kindness in the morning. For I will trust in You, teach me the way in which I should walk, for to you I lift up my soul".
Jonathan Edwards, the greatest theologian ever to be born on American soil wrote 70 resolutions at 19 years old and finished in about 2 years time. His 28th resolution read as follows., “To study the Scriptures so steadily, constantly, and frequently, as that I may find, and plainly perceive myself to grow in the knowledge of the same". He was a very gifted young man at such a young age, a Pastor, author, speaker, the Lord gave him many gifts to use and as his first resolution stated, we see more of the kind of Man he was. Resolution 1, “That I will do whatsoever I think to be most to the glory of God, and my own good, profit, and pleasure, in the whole of my duration, without any consideration of the time, whether now, or never so many myriads of ages hence. Resolved to do whatever I think to be my duty, and most for the good and advantage of mankind in general. Resolved, so to do, whatever difficulties I meet with, how many whatsoever, and how great whatsoever”.
So what does all this add up to and what do we have to gain from it? What sayeth the Scriptures? Remember Psalm 119:105, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path". 2 Tim.3:16 gives us great benefits in His Word,” Scripture is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for training in righteousness (now the reason) so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work". I know we can all use more of that. And Who and what will be our great gain? Paul says in Phil.3:8, “More than that (all the things that Paul thought were gain to him), I count but to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord". Emphasis mine. All the Scriptures reveal Him, Jesus, as He reiterates in John 5:39, “You search the Scriptures... it is these that testify about Me".
Let us all get to know, cherish, value, and treasure Him in our reading of the Scriptures this year more than ever before.
Elder Randy Slak