As we approach the new year, so often thoughts wander to what we wish we could have accomplished in 2012. Other times, we think of what we would like to see and do, or even become in 2013. The change of the calendar seems to invoke a sense of resolve in us all, yet truly January 1st is just another day in God's timeline of history. The day itself means nothing, and truly any resolution made at this time of year would not be more earnestly fulfilled than other promises or plans we may have made over this past year. It is with this in mind that I would like to share how we believe that rather than making New Years resolutions, we ought to commit to faithfully love the Lord our God, to obey His commands, to know more about the character of God, and then to look back at what the Lord has accomplished in conforming us to the image of His dear Son, Jesus Christ our Savior.
Looking back 10 months, our family moved back to Maine as led by the Lord. We had hopes and plans for many things, local church fellowship, Gospel outreach, goals for ourselves and our children. Many of these hopes were not fulfilled in the way we hoped they would, but we also have to recognize that our plans are not always God's plans, and at times we plow forward with what we think is God's plan rather than waiting on the Lord.
This past year, we gave up our formal commendation for the work of evangelism. We now meet in our home to remember the Lord Jesus and have fellowship with another family around the Lord's Table. We are few in number, but our hearts are united in Christ and only clinging to the love of Christ and the obedience to the Scriptures. My plans needed changing to align less with what I hoped for, and more with what God has in mind for us. So often this is the case, being zealous for the Lord we tend to run ahead of Him in zeal. We run ahead and hope the Lord blesses our plans rather than submitting ourselves in humility and brokenness to His plans, which are always better!
This past year, we gave up our formal commendation for the work of evangelism. We now meet in our home to remember the Lord Jesus and have fellowship with another family around the Lord's Table. We are few in number, but our hearts are united in Christ and only clinging to the love of Christ and the obedience to the Scriptures. My plans needed changing to align less with what I hoped for, and more with what God has in mind for us. So often this is the case, being zealous for the Lord we tend to run ahead of Him in zeal. We run ahead and hope the Lord blesses our plans rather than submitting ourselves in humility and brokenness to His plans, which are always better!
We have not organized any large scale evangelistic outreach in our area. I (Mark) have only preached publicly once since March, and that was in Tennessee (a long ways from Maine), and have no plans at this point for public preaching or teaching. These very typical events associated in the life of a man whose heart beats for the proclamation of glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, one might think that this is a fault, but indeed there has been more fervent prayer and more faithful sharing of the Gospel in our lives this past year than before. I have found there is great value in large outreach events, but that often things die down immediately thereafter. I have also had to learn that my desire for door to door evangelism and other venues to proclaim the Gospel are not always what God wants from all people. We are all commanded and expected to proclaim the Gospel, to have compassion on the lost and reach out to them with the truth of sin and salvation. We are not all commanded to knock on doors, have children's Bible clubs, talk to folks at nursing homes, or any of a thousand other ideas from which there is much fruit for God's Kingdom.
The largest idea of this past year, and the one for which I look earnestly forward to coming days, is that of discipleship in the family. With much research, prayer, conviction, and even obvious needs in regard to the local church and family, we have resolved not only for the new year, but for each day of our lives been transformed from a nice little family who loves the Lord to a passionate group of disciples following the only Teacher worth following.
It is imperative as we see the commands of the Lord not only to know and obey them, but to love righteousness and to see every good work as a means by which we glorify the Father in the Son..
