Bible

A Year In Review…

As we are about to finish out another year, have you reviewed your year? Companies, business owners, churches, and individuals all take time to review how things are going. We ask ourselves questions like:

  • Was 2023 a year of growth, stagnation, or decline?
  • How are things going?
  • What do we anticipate for 2024?

These reviews are normal and to a great degree necessary given the importance of strategy and planning. But too often I’m afraid our focus on progress, numbers, strategy, planning, or just getting by puts our attention on the wrong things in evaluation and review.

As we finish out 2023, here are some questions for how we can assess ourselves spiritually: Am I looking to Christ? Have I examined my soul and spiritual condition? Do I have a long-view of my life and the kingdom of God?

Question 1: Am I looking to Christ?

38 Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” 41 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, 42 but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”

Luke 10:38-42

This is the upward assessment. In Luke 10, Jesus visits Martha and Mary. Martha is busy with a great many things (hosting guests). Does this sound familiar? Mary was seated at her Lord’s feet learning from him. Now, Jesus is not simply criticizing hospitality and hosting. Nor is he specifically calling out activity, serving, or even busyness. Rather, he’s putting them in their place. The most important thing we can ever do is to spend time with Jesus. Am I listening to Christ through his Word? Am I spending time with Christ in prayer and fellowship? Am I worshiping Christ privately and corporately? Jesus said “one thing is necessary.” That one thing is walking in relationship with him. As you close out 2023 and make plans for 2024, plan and structure your life to look to Christ daily, weekly, consistently.

Question 2: Have I examined my soul and spiritual condition?

5 Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test! 6 I hope you will find out that we have not failed the test. 

2 Corinthians 13:5-6

This is the inward assessment. In writing his second letter to the church at Corinth, Paul was not afraid to challenge his readers to examine their spiritual lives. He was not trying to create a sense of fear or stir up doubt. Rather, Paul reminds believers that absolutely nothing matters more than being in Christ and having Christ in you. This is Paul’s way of repeating question number one. So Paul tells us to examine ourselves. Do we have faith? Are we walking with Christ? Is Christ our focus, our goal, our end? These are good questions for us to ask ourselves regularly. Self-examination is not intended to bring shame and self-loathing, but rather encouragement and a refocusing on Christ.

Question 3: Do I have a long-view of my life and the kingdom of God?

“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
10 Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
    on earth as it is in heaven.

Matthew 6:9-10

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Matthew 6:33

This is the outward assessment. Sometimes, we evaluate our lives moments, minutes, hours, days, or weeks at a time. That is understandable. But it is short-sighted. God’s view of the world and his rule of the world through his kingdom is patient and certain. God’s work in our world to bring about salvation was thousands of years in the making. From Isaiah’s prophetic announcements to Christ’s first advent was more than 700 years. God gave his people the Promised Land more than 1,000 years before sending the Messiah. And since Christ’s first advent, it has been more than 2,000 years that the gospel of Christ’s death and resurrection have spread throughout the earth. God’s kingdom is still advancing through the spread of his gospel. God has given us our mission to lead our neighbors and the nations to follow him. It is the authority of God through Christ (Mt. 28:18) that commands us to make disciples. So we should be living under Christ’s authority and proclaiming his gospel day by day, year by year. This is a long-view of life and the kingdom of God. Are we seeking first the kingdom of God? Are we praying for his kingdom and righteousness in our lives? Are we living for what lasts?

During the new year at Wilkesboro Baptist, we’re going to give consideration to God’s kingdom and God’s future work in the world. On Sunday mornings later in January we will begin a sermon series on the “Good News of the Kingdom of God” and how God is ruling in our world. On Wednesday evenings during our Bible study time, we will explore the doctrine of eschatology (last things). These subjects will help us consider whether or not we are living for what lasts.

Photo by Aiden Frazier on Unsplash

Will your new year have new habits?

Each year many plan their New Year resolutions. Each year resolutions made become resolutions broken. Resolutions are good, but we are not our resolutions. We are our habits.

An anonymous quote I came across several years ago says it all:

Watch your thoughts for they become words. Watch your words for they become actions. Watch your actions for they become…habits. Watch your habits, for they become your character. And watch your character, for it becomes your destiny!

As a pastor, I have conversations with Christians and non-Christians alike regarding their spiritual lives. One of the more consistent conversations revolves around one’s identity or self-perception. We live in a culture that suggests we can be or become whatever we think or dream. The identity crisis that permeates gender and sexuality found its roots in the self-help ideology that believes we can define ourselves, our future, and our successes.

After a recent win for Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers, Rodgers articulated a belief in himself and self-fulfillment. He went on to say: “I do believe in the power of manifestation and I do believe in momentum and I believe very strongly in the force of the mind. And when you start to believe something strongly, some miraculous things can happen.”

That’s well and good, but the Packers lost last night agains the Detroit Lions. Manifestation and the force of the mind failed Rodgers and the Packers in a game where a win would get them to the playoffs.

Identity and belief is tremendously important, but not in the way self-help gurus and the identity culture we live in would have us believe.

We are first and foremost who God says we are. This means we are image-bearers of God (Genesis 1:28). This truth about identity is for every person on earth regardless of religion, experience, background, or environment.

For those who follow Jesus, we are described as new creatures and the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:17-21). While we are sinners by nature, we have been justified by God through Christ (Romans 3:21-26). We have been given the privilege of becoming children of God by faith in Christ (John 1:12). On an on the Bible goes about our identity in Christ.

This is where our habits come to play in our Christian experience. Our habits either support what the Bible says about our identity in Christ or they align with cultural values. Our habits teach and form us. Reading the Word, praying, attending church, memorizing Scripture, being involved in an accountable community, and other disciplines remind us regularly of our identity in Christ and his redeeming and transforming work in our lives. Christians who neglect these spiritually forming habits are in danger of buying into the cultural shortcomings that so pervade education, media, and ideologies.

So in this new year, will you review your habits? Discover whether you’re Bible reading, prayer, and church engagement are adequate to form your faith and walk with Christ spiritually. If you’d like to consider these questions at a deeper level make plans to attend Wilkesboro Baptist during our series on the book of Hebrews. We’re learning what it means to follow Christ who is greater than the patterns, promises, and prophecies of the Old Testament. If you’re not in our community, make sure you’re a part of a Bible-believing church with healthy leadership where you can grow in your knowledge of Christ and find accountability for your habits.

Photo by Joel Muniz on Unsplash