Ready For A New Year
Ready For A New Year
J. Mike Minnix
Introduction
The New Year is here, whether we are ready for it or not. The question we must address is how to live our best life for our Lord in this New Year. We always wish each other "Happy New Year" sometime around January 1 of each year, but the best life does not involve wishing but actually requires living our best for Jesus.
One thing many of us do as we approach a New Year is make a commitment to new resolutions. We have a desire to do better in numerous areas than we have during the previous year. Some people make resolutions that they are quite sure they will not keep. In other words, we wish to do better rather than actually making a commitment to be better and do better.
Have you read some of the things people around the world do in order to assure a better year? Let me share a couple of them with you.
- Some people in Japan eat fish which are able to swim against strong currents, believing that this will enable them to move against the strong currents they anticipate will face them in the coming months.
- People in Hungry eat roast pig with an apple or a four-leaf clover in its mouth, believing that this will bring them good fortune and health in the coming year - didn’t bring the pig any good fortune, did it?
- In another part of the world, women eat chicken gizzards believing it will make them beautiful during the New Year. Let Estee Lauder top that! If that were true, we could all just buy stock in chicken gizzard futures and get rich quick.
- In America we eat black-eyed peas and greens as an attempt at providing a successful pilgrimage throughout the New Year with health and money.
We know that there is no meal which is consumed on New Year's Day that ensures a good year ahead. And we know that there is no magic to assure success in the coming 12 months. But, as Christians, we can face an uncertain future absolutely certain that we will not walk alone through that which we must face, and we certainly seem to be facing some head winds in the coming months.
The economy is moving deeper into a financial recession, wars continue between people in various places, tensions exist everywhere between nations, oil is in short supply, and pandemics are still dangerous. To top it all, it seems less people claim faith in God, and fewer are attending worship services across America. When looking at these facts, along with our own personal issues, it is easy to become discouraged, but as Christians we know that we can and we must look to our Lord as we face the future. After all, we know who is really in charge.
Today we are going to look at a man who had just come through a crisis year and on top of that he was facing an uncertain future. We can learn much about how to live successfully in difficult times from this spiritually successful man. He had several ingredients in his life which made him victorious even when everything around him seemed to be getting worse. His name is Paul, and we turn today to read some of the first verses in his second letter to the Corinthians to obtain divine ways to live victorously lives.
2 Corinthians 1:1-12
I. Ready for the New Year with a Sure Redemption
"Paul, and apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God..."
Are you saved? If you are, you have something that the world and all its troubles cannot take away from you. Thankfully, we do not lose our salvation, even when we are disobedient.
A farmer in Kansas had just gone through a terrific storm. He had an insurance adjuster come out to survey the damage. The adjuster noticed that the roof of the farmer's barn had been lifted intact and placed on the ground by the wind about 50 feet away from the original site. He remarked, "I see you lost the roof to your barn." The farmer answered, "No sir, it's not lost, it just ain't where I want it to be."
We may not be where we want to be or where God wants us to be, but thanks be to God that His saving grace keeps us secure through Jesus Christ. Paul was saved and he was serving the Lord by obeying God's will for His life. It did not matter that God's will involved troubles, and surely you know that went through many a tought stop in life, it only mattered that God was Paul's Lord. He knew that Jesus saves and keeps us, and He will never forsake us. What a joy to know that nothing in this New Year can separate us for the love of God we have in Christ.
If you have neve trusted the Lord as your Lord and Savior, I must ask you: Where is your hope? Everything you have can be lost in mere moments. But, people who have placed faith in Christ know that they have something the world didn't give them and the world can't take away. God loves you and wants to give you that peace as well.
II. Ready for the New Year with a Sacred Responsibility
Paul wrote about the joy he was experiencing in the midst of a difficult ministry. His sacred responsibility gave him purpose, strength, and peace. You see, serving Jesus means that ones life is committed to eternal purposes and not just selfish interests. Knowing this brings it own peace and joy.
In the book Quo Vadis, Peter was fleeing from Rome and the persecution that existed there. As he walked away from the city he met Jesus on the road. He called out to Jesus saying, "Quo Vadis?" or "Lord, where are you going?" Jesus replied that He was going to Rome to stand beside His persecuted saints. Peter decided to turn around, to go back to Rome, to also stand true as well. If we keep our God-given responsibilities in the forefront of our minds, it will help keep us away from the negatives in life. This, in turn, will assist us in our responsibilities to walk with Jesus into the service we are called to give. You see, when we are walking with Him, doing His will, bringing Him glory, a peace surrounds us that mankind, life, and hardships cannot take from us.
A man in New York committed suicide. His financial books were in good order and so was the rest of his life. He left a note. "Not a word of encouragement in 30 years. I'm fed up." Like Peter in the book Quo Vadis, even the best of us can become discouraged and feel that our effort is useless. But let me tell you something, there is always somebody looking and waiting for an encouraging word. There are those who simply need a challenge to be true in the midst of life's boredom or troubles. If our minds are focused on service to Christ and to others as a sacred responsibility, it will not only bring us joy and peace, it will help someone else who is suffering or struggling to find divine victory in life.
An attorney gave his son a gift of 1 hour a day. He kept his New Year’s promise to the boy and renewed it each year. In Moody Monthly the son said it was the greatest gift his father ever gave him. That father took his love and responsibility to his son as a sacred responsibility and left a positive mark on his son's entire life. That's what I'm talking about today. What sacred responsibility can you commit to as you begin the New Year? Whether in your church, your home, or simply in the secret places of your heart, it is so important to know that divine peace can be found in sacred responsibility. Paul had that commitment in his life and it carried him through shipwreck, trials, prison, beatings, and many other trials. Read his story carefully and you find him saying, "I can do all things through Christ." (Philippians 4:13)
III. Ready for a New Year with a Steadfast Rejoicing
As Paul mentions "the God of all comfort" he uses the word "paracletos," which means "the God who stands beside us." Paul could rejoice in every situation because he knew that God was with him. William Barclay reminds us that between verses 3 and 7 in 2 Corinthians 1 the noun "comfort" or the verb "to comfort" occurs nine times. In other words, Paul was speaking about the divine comfort that was his and can be in the life of every Christian. Those who minds are fixed on the Lord can learn to rejoice in situations that might lead others to collapse.
No matter what the New Year holds, God will be with those who have trusted His Son. That gives us cause to rejoice. I’m not looking to simply be blessed as I enter the New Year, I am blessed with the comforting presence of my Lord all the day long, and He gives me songs in the night! “The Lord is my Shepherd," David wrote, "I shall not want.” (Psalm 23:1)
Conclusion
Now let me remind you that Paul spoke in this letter of being in such trouble at one point that he and his fellow believers had no hope left in their humans lives. That is, they were under a death sentence and saw no way out. Yet, Paul states that knew that the human life they had was not that in which they were trusting. They did not lose hope because their hope was in the One who rose from the dead. I don't know what the New Year holds, but I do know who holds the New Year. The Lord has given me a life that this life cannot take from me. What joy that brings. To top it all, the Lord promises to be with me in this life and to take me to be with Him when this life is over. Just look at John 14:1-6. Oh, how wonderful to have a home that the Lord has built for us - a home that we cannot lose for He secures it.
Child of God, let us recommit our lives to Him who called us, saved us, and has given us His work to carry out in this world. Trust Him anew today. Commit the New year to Him today.
Dear friend, do not trust in the pleasures and promises of this world. They are passing away. Ask those who came before you and are now gone from this earth. Of what value are those passing human joys when you are called upon to appear before the great and glorious God who made everything and will call us to account one day? Jesus is the answer to the meaning of life. He loves you and offers you a life of security, meaning, and purpose, and a home with Him when this life is over. Come to Christ today. Place your faith in Him. Turn from your sin and accept His offer of salvation. If you do that, you will be Ready For A New Year, and every year that follows.