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A New Year’s Resolution Every Disciple Needs

Today is the last day of 2018, and everywhere you look you can’t help but see messages and hear invitations to make 2019 a better year. A year to be happier than last year. We probably easily agree that all of us want to be happy. Most of us would even say that we want to live a full and satisfying life, a life of joy. 

Isn’t it great then that God wants us to experience that? Jesus said “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.”– John 15:11 So, if we want joy, and Jesus offers us joy, why then does it seem that consistent happiness often eludes us? 

Consider that the earning power of the baby boomers and Gen X’ers, increased dramatically over that of any previous generation in history before them. They have more money, more leisure time, more access to sports, travel, and entertainment than any society has ever experienced and yet these two groups are experiencing a tenfold increase in depression over previous generations. It would be logical then to surmise that if the attainment of stuff and fun experiences did ‘it’ for us, then Canada and the US should be like Disneyland – “The happiest Place on earth”. But it’s not. Why is that? 

I’m convinced that it’s because in this pursuit of joy, we have made it all about ‘me’. We feel that it’s unconditional and doesn’t matter how I live as long as I can keep filling my basket full of goodies. But God says that it’s conditional based not so much of what we do but of what we don’t do. 

In Psalm 1 we see that the blessed man is described by what he avoids. “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers” – Psalm 1:1

Don’t Walk With The World 

The problem with most of us is that we have this habit of walking alongside those who try to give us a different message than what God wants us to hear. Our culture is good at that. The culture pounds into us messages that are anti-God and pro-self everywhere you look. So many messages are bombarded at us, messages that begin to sound so good if were not rooted in God’s word. 

Here is an example of a statement that I abhor being used. Ever hear the words, “just follow your heart”? That phrase is used in social conversations, movies, songs, and the average person quickly nods their heads in agreement as though it is the deepest of truths that the cosmos could provide. However, Jeremiah 17:9 says that “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?

If that’s true then how could we trust our own heart to be able to follow it in any matter let alone someone else’s? Yet this is one of the messages that so many of us, even in the church, have swallowed and accepted as fact. The truth is that a blessed man doesn’t walk in that type of council – in other words – doesn’t listen to those messages. And by not listening to the messages a blessed person doesn’t stand with the world.

Don’t Stand With The World

We are in danger of beginning to believe the messages that come at us from all over when we stop walking and we begin to listen more deeply. When we do that we are beginning to pause, stop and stand with the world in their anti-God sentiments. The facts are that standing is much more of a commitment than walking. Walking gives us that chance to keep on going, but standing is a picture of rooting oneself in the world system. 

Don’t Sit With The World

We move from listening to standing with the world and then ultimately to sitting. We move from listening to doing what we are counseled to do and then we become like the scoffers themselves, sitting and offering man’s advice to others through scoffing the truth. Maybe not in words but certainly in actions, which might simply be in not being willing to walk away from the world and stand up for truth. 

Delight In God’s Word

”But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on His law he meditates day and night.” – Psalm 1:2 

Is that you? When God’s Word is read does that brighten up your life? So much so that you can’t help but meditate on it? 

Do you realize that the average family has the television on for over 7 ½ hours a day? And most of us don’t spend more 10 minutes a day in God’s word, and maybe 40 minutes a week attending a worship and fellowship gathering Sunday’s and then we wonder why we’re weak. 

Ponder this question. What if we had to hand in a time sheet to God that showed the time spent with him and time spent elsewhere? How would we do? Would you be embarrassed or ashamed?

It says here that a blessed man delights in the law and meditates on it all the time. So much so that it not only becomes a part of him but it produces a delight in his or her heart, or in other words, a deep satisfying itchy joy that can only be scratched by the hearing of more Word. 

Don’t Just Read the Word, Be Grounded In It

“He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.” – Psalm 1:3

A blessed man or woman has their feet ‘grounded’ by thirst quenching water and nutrient enriched soil. If you have ever seen a satellite picture of river systems you will appreciate this picture here. The land is richest and lushest with life along the banks of the flowing river, but as you move away from the water, life becomes scarcer and scarcer until soon all that’s left is desert unless there is another source of water. 

Throughout history, civilizations were built up around water sources. A herd of deer will risk life and limb to gather around the watering hole in spite of the alligator or lion ready to have it for dinner – water gives life. 

The picture we have here in this psalm is of a continual flowing of refreshing waters that give the tree life. The water flows 24/7 and the tree is able to suck up all it requires to live and not only to live but to produce fruit. 

What burdens my heart though is that I know people who will leave after their 40 – 60 minute fix of God’s word on Sunday and will be so excited about living for Jesus but by that same evening will be drunk or high or back into pornography or fighting with their spouse – again. Maybe they have a complacency with anything to do with spiritual things or maybe it’s simply that they continue to struggle with the things that they were so sure were conquered after getting excited at church on Sunday morning. And they want to change but don’t. Why??? 

It’s because you can’t be watered 40-60 minutes each week and expect to be strengthened, there must be a continual watering. A tree will die without being watered. That is why we need to get involved in reading Gods word, or gathering one or two others who are actively growing in relationship with God to challenge us and keep us accountable and grounded. Don’t expect to grow if you are isolated from others who can speak into your life. The Christian life isn’t a Sunday thing – it’s a lifestyle. 

Don’t be Chaff

In contrast, look at how the wicked are compared to the blessed man. The comparison is that instead of strength and life the wicked are like chaff. Chaff is the husk around the wheat kernel, or the brown skin around a peanut. It is like ‘nothing’ and a quick puff of your breath would simply blow it away. 

That’s why in vs. 5 we see that the wicked can’t stand before God in the judgment or sinners in the congregation of the righteous. “Therefore, the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.” – Psalm 1:5

Imagine standing before God – perfect & Holy. I think we don’t think about that often enough. And in the world that thought is made light of, “Oh I’ll just deal with the man in the sky when the time comes”. But the problem is that you can ‘deal’ with God as easily as you can ‘deal’ with standing before a nuclear bomb as it goes off. You’d lose – every time. 

Imagine standing before God and all you have to show for your life is chaff, nothing to stand on. Well, the wicked can’t stand before God in the end no matter how confident they are today. So, don’t be chaff.

Our world has an expectation about what makes us happy. For that matter they have an expectation about how we are to behave, how we are to act, to think, to be. But it goes against how God has created us to be. We can conform to the world and think that we will be happy and find lasting joy, but ultimately, we will only find that true happiness and joy comes from placing our feet where God has created us to place them, grounded in him.

And one of the most effective ways we can be rooted in him is to immerse ourselves in his word. When you read and study Scripture, remember that it is a lifeline to the Godhead. You are striking your roots deeper and deeper into good life-giving soil and drinking from the living waters. These truths are part of the living water that flows into the roots of our lives. 

Be A Rooted Disciple

So, as we enter a new year, make your New Year’s resolution to be a rooted disciple. Someone who grows deep as you meditate on the word made flesh, Jesus Christ day and night. Causing you to grow so that you bear the fruit of Christ-exalting love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22–23). This is the source of our ‘joy’ in 2019 and beyond. 

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New Year’s Resolution – No More Photobombing Jesus

Common New Year’s resolutions would be commitments to quit smoking, to stop drinking, to manage money more wisely, and to spend more time with family. By far, the most common New Year’s resolution is to lose weight, in conjunction with exercising more and eating more healthily. These are all good goals to set.

This year though I am making a new Year’s resolution you’ll probably not find in a top ten list anywhere. I’m going to quit ‘photobombing’ Jesus. As I have pondered the past year… for that matter the past few years, I have discovered that I have a repeatable tendency to try and photobomb Jesus. I say ‘try’ because Jesus can never actually be photobombed… but it seems I try just the same.

For those who aren’t familiar with the term ‘photobomb’, the dictionary’s definition is: “To spoil a photograph of (a person or thing) by unexpectedly appearing in the camera’s field of view as the picture is taken, typically as a prank or practical joke.” In other words, trying to take away the glory moment from the other person.

I photobomb Jesus when I serve God with mixed motives. When I hope lost people will be saved – but I want to be the evangelist God used, I photobomb Jesus. When I desire Christians to be encouraged – but I want to be the instrument of edification, I photobomb Jesus. When I want people to think God was awesome, that is of course a good thing. But when I want them to think that I was too – well that’s doing the photobomb thing again. Get the idea?

Having said that, it’s not a wrong thing to want to be part of what God is doing – we’re created for this purpose as Paul speaks to the church in Ephesus, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” – Ephesians 2:10

Jesus even said that It’s not wrong to want people to see God glorified in your life. “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that  they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” – Matthew 5:16

If we need more convincing listen to Peter tell us that It’s actually a good thing to serve with the hope that people will be convicted of their sin and trust in Christ because of your good works being recognized. “Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.” – 1 Peter 2:12

So, it appears that God’s Word shows us that it’s wrong and even sinful if you don’t desire these things since that should be a part of a sanctified life. God being glorified through me is the height of my created purpose, but there’s a fine line between wanting God to use you for his glory and wanting everyone to know about it. We must pay careful attention to our hearts so we don’t seek to steal glory from Jesus.

What does that look like then? What does a photobomb look like in the realm of discipleship? Probably best to use examples in my own life since I’m the one making this particular New Year’s resolution.

I must admit that there have been times as a preacher where I’ve left a great Sunday service only to feel discouraged because I didn’t hear someone tell me, “That was the most amazing message I’ve ever heard.”

As I thought about why I felt that way, I realized that I was seeking satisfaction in my efforts. However, true useful servants are those who find their satisfaction in simply serving, even when no one affirms them, as long as Jesus gets the applause. Problem is that when I seek affirmation to be satisfied, not only will I not find my satisfaction realized, but I also end up stealing from Jesus.

And then adding insult to injury, I have found that photobombing Jesus for attention often leads to a depressed devotional life. As an example, when I become more concerned about my public performance than my private devotion I neglect my prayer life, because other things feel more pressing. Photobombers feel hurried out of the prayer closet because we value being before men more than before God.

Continuing on in my public transparency, I have seen where photobombing has presented occasions where I have become discouraged and even bitter when God has used others instead of me for what I thought were my goals.

Stepping into my role as ‘rookie’ lead pastor a few years ago, I knew that God was going to grow his church. What I didn’t expect was that numerical growth wasn’t going to happen in the specific location I was a part of. God had other plans which ultimately, I saw and gave him praise for, however during that time, another church down the road grew like nobody’s business.

Though I loved the pastor of that ‘other’ fellowship, I’ll admit that I became bitter. I felt discouraged because I felt that God had “overlooked” me. Hadn’t I spent enough time in prayer? I had even fasted; didn’t that count for something? I must say that this season was a good time to re-evaluate why I served Jesus.

Looking at John the Baptist, you quickly realize that he would never have been accused of photobombing. Crowds flocked to John, but he had one mission – to make Jesus known. “He must increase, but I must decrease.” John was content serving in the background so that Jesus could be seen more clearly.

Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.’” – Mark 8:34-35 

…And, “Whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.” – Matthew 10:38

When the Roman Empire crucified a criminal or captive, the victim was often forced to carry his cross part of the way to the crucifixion site, often through the heart of the city. The picture Jesus gives is of a man or woman, already condemned, required to carry the beam of his or her own cross to the place of execution.

Disciples from Galilee knew what this meant, since hundreds had been executed by this means in their region. The modern equivalent would be to walk down a hallway toward an electric chair. Death in this case is the obvious destination, and so the idea is that in this life of submission to Jesus, we are in reality in a death processional.

In other words, if we “deny ourselves”, and commit ourselves to death, we can no longer place any hope in this world. By “taking up our cross”, it is as if all our natural passions and desires are doomed, giving up any claim for our self and selfish wants and needs.

Paul said, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” – Romans 12:1-2

What was Paul saying here? It’s only as we give everything up… only as we allow our self to be sacrificed are we able to be changed. Dead people don’t make very good photobombers.

My New Year’s resolution for 2018 then is to live a life that is dying to know Christ and then living to make him known in a photobomb free zone.

Jesus came to save photobombers like me from ourselves. In fact, he gave up his own glory and then died for all the times we steal God’s glory. He alone is worthy of praise in 2018 and into eternity.