WHERE DO I (WE) START?

Victor M. Eskew

 

          We are now five days into the New Year.  Most of us have been through so many “New Years” that we no longer have resolutions.  In fact, most of us may not have seen the New Year as it arrived.  We went to bed at our normal time thinking that New Year’s Day is just another day.

          In this article, I want us to consider the question:  “Where do I start?”   Each one of us is alive today.  We still have some life to live.  Our days may not be long upon the earth, but the days that we do have need to count for something.  Thus, where do I (we) start? 

          Perhaps we need to begin with REFLECTION. We need to look at our lives honestly from time to time.  The New Year naturally provides this time for us.  Paul told the Corinthians:  “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in faith; prove your own selves…” (2 Cor. 13:5).  Self-reflection is not an easy thing for anyone to do.  We have to remove the glasses that fog our vision.  We have to ask ourselves the tough questions.  We have to admit the difficult truths about our lives.  We have to truly see ourselves as we are.  Every aspect of our lives should be involved in the reflection process.  When our Lord addressed the seven churches of Asia, His words were all about reflection.  Jesus saw the good and acknowledged it.  He also saw the bad.  He often addressed these issues with words:  “Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee” (Rev. 2:4, 14, 20).  He was attempting to open their eyes.  Reflect.  Prove.  Examine.  A good look in the mirror can be very revealing.  When the prodigal son came to himself, he saw where he was and remembered the blessings of his father’s home (Luke 15:17-18).  This prompted positive actions in his life.  Dear reader, are you where you should be?  Are you where God wants you to be?  Are you what you should be?  Are you what God wants you to be? 

          If there are places in our lives wherein we are falling short, we need to REPENT.  Repentance involves two steps and results in a positive consequence.  First, repentance involves a change of mind.  This happened to Saul of Tarsus when he was on the road to Damascus.  Prior to his experience on that road, he did not believe in the resurrected Christ.  Too, he was a bitter enemy of the church that Jesus built.  Seeing the resurrected Christ and speaking to Him, changed his mind.  Instead of entering into the city of Damascus to arrest Christians, he went into the city to await the message of a servant of God.  “And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus:  and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven:  and he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?  And he said, Who art thou Lord?  And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest:  it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.  And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?...” (Acts 9:3-6a).  That last question exhibits Saul’s change of mind.  It was no longer what he wanted.  Now, he longed to do the will of the Lord.

          The second step of repentance involves a change of action.  Let’s continue with the example of Saul.  “And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do” (Acts 9:6b).  How would Saul respond to this command?  “And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man:  but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus.  And he was three days without sight, and neither did eat or drink” (Acts 9:8).  Saul submitted the Lord’s will.  This obedience continued after Ananias arrived to explain the Lord’s will for Saul’s life.  “And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales:  and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized….Then was Saul certain days with the disciples which were at Damascus.  And straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God” (Acts 9:18-20).  Dear readers, a person who truly repents can’t continue in his previous ways.  He must change his mind and his actions.  These are the fruits meet for repentance referred to by John the Baptist (Matt. 3:8).

          If a person takes the two steps involved in repentance, he will reap the consequence of a reformed life.  Paul’s life certainly was.  “But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.  Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord:  for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I win Christ” (Phil. 3:7-8).  The rabbi became the redeemed.  The sinner became the saint.  The enemy became the evangelist.  The doubter became the debater.  The persecutor became the persecuted.  Question:  Do you have the will power to repent?  Question:  Do you have the physical strength the carry out the change?  If you answered, “Yes,” to both of these questions, you will find that you can reform your life completely in many ways.

          Once we have reflected and repented, we need to be RESOLUTE.  The word “resolute” means to be “firmly resolved or determined.”  It is also defined as firmness and determination.  Paul’s resolve is manifested in several verses of the New Testament.  “But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection:  lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway” (1 Cor 9:27).  “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended:  but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:13-14).  “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Phil. 3:13).  The changes we make must stick.  Our lives will be proof that the changes are sincere and real.  Nothing will cause us to go back to that old way of living. 

          My friends, the New Year of 2025 is upon us.  Where do I start?  Where do we as a congregation start?  Let’s begin with some reflection.  If we find any negatives, let’s repent.  Then, let’s be resolute.  Let’s become the kind of people we should be.  Let’s become the kind of individuals God wants us to be.