Thoughts on New Years

You may have noticed an interesting progression during this season: each year we are inclined to resolve in January to do the opposite of what we have been doing in December. We have been eating peppermint bark; we resolve to eat whole-wheat bread. We’ve been spending freely, we resolve to save carefully, and within a few days, our actions (or at least our intentions) change drastically.  Many of us meticulously list the external changes we would like to make in order to become the people we’ve always wanted to be.

While reflecting on this annual phenomenon (that I have certainly participated in), I hear God’s word speaking to me about a radical resolution: What if January’s resolutions weren’t much different from December’s traditions? What if January became giving as well? What if, this year, I resolved to give back to God?

When King David was soliciting gifts to build the temple for God, he asked an interesting question: “Who is willing to consecrate himself today to the LORD ?" (1 Chronicles 29: 5b). The political leaders responded appropriately, and later “The people rejoiced at the willing response of their leaders, for they had given freely and wholeheartedly to the LORD.”

Christmas, despite its drama, does have a way of reminding us how blessed we are: blessed with material things, loved ones, delicious foods, and warm shelter. Once we realize that every good and perfect gift is from God (James 1.17) it becomes our obligation and our joy to give back to Him. Wouldn’t it be an amazing year if our resolution became a prayer? What if we prayed everyday:

Lord, You have given me everything, and I consecrate myself to You today. You can have my body, my thoughts, my words, and my actions. I lay them on the altar for You, my King.

When David did this, he was overcome with joy. He gave and gave and gave to the Lord, and his reflection on this giving was simply “Who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from You, and we have given You only what comes from Your hand” (v. 14).

So this year, instead of listing specific gym-going goals I might not achieve, my New Year’s resolution is this: to, as much as I am able, recognize that everything comes from Him, and to give him back what has come from His hand.

            Some of you might be wondering: what that looks like on a practical level. And I can’t say I am entirely sure. It could mean honoring Him by taking care of the body He has given me; it could mean honoring Him with the words I use in speaking to my spouse; it could mean giving money to His people; it could mean giving time to His causes. Regardless of the specifics, realizing that all we have comes from Him, and choosing to give it back will produce nothing but joy in 2009. I challenge you, as I challenge myself, to respond to David’s question: “Who is willing to consecrate himself today to the LORD ?"

Thoughts on Christmas

As long as I live, I will never forget Dec. 25^th, 1996. That was my first Christmas after my mother’s death. Sitting on my grandmother’s couch, I heard the phone ring, and for a minute or so, I was sure it was my mom calling; sure she wouldn’t miss wishing me a Merry Christmas. 

During a time of year when we sing about joy and tell the merry gentlemen not to be dismayed, why do many feel separation and sadness more than usual?  What are we to do with grief, sin, and suffering after a year that has been challenging financially, spiritually, relationally? Our negative feelings don’t seem to fit under the tree.Yet when we step back, it seems that recognizing all of the difficulties we try to hide from is the key to finding true joy this holiday season.Why? Because God did not send Jesus to live and die for whole, fulfilled, perfect people. The miracle of Christmas, rather, is that Christ came into a world of darkness, greed, sickness, death, and sin to save us.The fact is “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). We are living in a sinful world where suffering and death are inevitable. But when Mary was pregnant, the angel told Joseph: “She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).I don’t know about you, but sometimes I forget what the name Jesus means—Salvation, Messiah. He came to save us from sorrows, from brokenness, from sin, from death. And while Jesus himself warns us that “in this life [we] will have trouble,” He urges us to “take heart” because He has “overcome the world” (John 16:33).

 I still long to hear my mother’s voice each Christmas, and I occasionally feel bogged down by the effects of sin in my life and in the world. But this Christmas, I am trying something new with the difficult feelings that surface. Instead of  boxing them up, instead of putting them away never to unwrap them, I am going to look at them and give thanks. Not because they are attractive, but because they remind me that I am a girl who needs a Savior. My Messiah, whose name reminds me of my rescue, came so that, through His abundant grace, I might also overcome the world.