Look Forward! Go Forward!
I suppose I have to offer my apologies to my father-in-law for the title of this article. You see, this is one of those things that I learned from him several years ago. It is something on which I have heard him preach on several occasions. But the sentiment is so very true that it simply demands being repeated on occasion and especially on days such as today, the first day of a New Year.
The year 2006 is before us. 2005 is dead and gone and will never return to us. There is no point in going back and worrying about the mistakes, problems, difficulties, trials, and temptations of 2005. No, to do that would be to needlessly focus upon the past. That’s not to say that we can’t learn lessons from the past, but we don’t need to dwell on the past to understand those lessons. We learn them, make the appropriate life changes that need to be made, and move on. Today is a good day to move on from 2005 and into 2006.
And 2006 is so full of opportunity! There are challenges that await us this year. There are opportunities that are going to become available to us which we have not had prior. I’m so excited about 2006. There are several things that I know are going to be different about this year. First, one very interesting thing that is going to happen in this year is that there is going to be a lectureship at the end of the month of July here at this congregation. I am REALLY excited about this. Second, we have made some improvements to our building and that is going to be different for the year. Third, there will be improvements made in the preacher’s home to give our family some additional needed space. That is going to make things different for the new year.
But as many things as are going to be different for the new year, there are going to be some other things that don’t change: things that remain the same. In this new year, we will continue the work that we were doing last year. We will continue to work with the church in Costa Rica. We will continue to put together House to House and Heart to Heart. We will continue to put effort into our outreach program. We will continue to meet on a regular basis to study God’s word, lift our voices in prayer, sing praises to God, remember the sacrifice of Jesus, and offer to the Lord for His work what we can give out of our coffers. There are some things that will NOT change and ought not to change!
There are hopes for the new year as well. I hope that our friends and family day this year will be a great success and that we will have several come to visit us on this special day! I hope to return to Brazil this year in June, if the Lord is willing. I hope that we will be able to engage the community in more Bible studies this year than in previous years. I hope that we can offer more opportunities for our youth to study and learn God’s word this year. These are things that we CAN do if we are willing to get busy and do the work that is necessary to get them done.
But then there are also individual personal goals that we each ought to set for ourselves in regard to the Lord’s work this year. Have we considered our personal Bible study habits? Perhaps we ought to make it a goal to read the Bible each day in 2006. Have we considered our personal prayer habits? Perhaps we ought to make it a goal to pray on a daily basis in 2006. Have we considered personally inviting a friend or a family member to our services? Have we considered the possibility of trying to study the Bible on a personal level with someone we know? Have we considered taking some of the literature that we have here at the building and placing it in our work place or doctor’s office, or some public common area in our community? There is so much that could be done if we would think about it and then do it.
2006 is beaming bright with newness and optimism! Let’s be joyously optimistic about this new year and strive to make some things happen this year that we know need to happen. If God is for us, then who can be against us? We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us! Let’s make this a great year to remember!
Posted in: Bible Lessons, New Year