Out With the Old and In With the New

I just pulled away from a New Year’s Eve party to jot down my thoughts about the end of the year. As I write this we are thirty-four minutes from the end of 2009 and the beginning of 2010. Some are sad to see this year come to an end while on the other hand there are many who are more than happy to see it go.

Regardless of which side you stand on, the year 2009 is fast fading into the history books bringing another decade to a close. I love the New Year. It makes me think of all the possibilities to experience God as well as the chance to do more for Him than I did the previous year.

Every year I sit down at the end of the year and evaluate how I did on meeting the spiritual and professional goals I set for the past year. After that I will sit down and pray through the goals I feel the Lord is calling me to set for the New Year. I did that very thing this morning. Normally those spiritual goals will include reading the Bible through over the course of the year, reading a certain number of books, and scripture memory goals.

Why is it we can set goals for so many things in our lives but few take the time to set spiritual goals to propel them further along in their relationship with Christ? If we map out a plan to keep us on the right path we could not help but grow closer to God and be more in tune with Him over the course of the next three hundred and sixty five days.

I admit that I am a very driven person and setting goals is something I enjoy doing. I am determined to cover new ground in my pilgrimage with the Lord this year. I want to scale new heights upward toward the summit of God. I want to climb and commune where few others have ever ventured. I do not want to sit and serve smugly satisfied on the same beaten path I have traversed year after year.

So as I get ready to put this year to rest I see several areas where I have room for improvement. The Lord has identified some key areas I am to devote my time and energy to this year. So in keeping with Paul’s counsel, “I do not regard myself as having laid of hold it yet; but one thing I do; forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” [Phil 3:13-14]

I cannot go back and change the past. I can learn from it but now is the time to look toward the future. God is calling us new goals, new experiences, and fresh encounters with Him. It is time to begin looking ahead. What does the Lord want to do in us and through us in the upcoming year? I urge you to sit before Him and listen to find out.

It is time to chart our course for the New Year. The Lord has called me to call FBC Seminole to be a praying church. What better way to do that than to pray in the New Year. It is now only thirteen minutes before the New Year. I must get back to the party and get ready to lead our church in praying in the New Year. As I come across your path from time to time I will be asking you what goals you have set for the New Year and what you are believing God for in 2010. May we scale higher on the mountain of God and breathe new air in our spiritual lungs. May we stimulate each other to love God and do more good deeds for Him. [Heb 10:24] Happy New Year. Out with the old and in with the new and fresh work of God in each of our hearts.