christian living

The Last New Year’s Post – Until 2013

/ Bill Jones / 3 Comments

    

Bluegrass Pickin' Party - that's me playing the banjo and trying to sing

     Back in our bluegrass band days, the bass player, John, and I sometimes borrowed an old Steve Martin Saturday Night Live skit. As we rolled up cables and put instruments in cases after a job, we discussed which songs worked, and whether the audience paid attention. On nights when things went especially well, we would talk about the future of the band and realize what we were saying – “…yea, we could start having regular practices…add more songs…we could really get serious and …” Then we’d stop talking, look into the air as if thinking about it, turn back to each other, shake our heads and say “Naaaah” – and laugh as we continued to put things away.

     It wasn’t that we didn’t care. Practice sessions weren’t needed because we played jobs at least once a week, and often more. We added new songs by working on them during breaks. We had worked up to a solid musical level, had great fun with it, and when the audience paid attention, they had great fun too.

     John and I knew our family lives and day jobs wouldn’t allow us to “really get serious”. As we expounded on the future, we had the luxury of letting the excitement seemingly build and then jokingly say, “naaah, this is good where we are.”

     As we talk and think about possibilities in life, we often feel the spark of excitement and begin to make plans. The plans are for good things so we make heartfelt commitments – and intend to keep them. The hard part then is consistency and diligence in the long term. Life gets in the way, and that spark of excitement dims.

     That isn’t always a bad thing. Whatever we were planning may have been impractical or the timing was wrong. But, often, as we allow the commitments to fade, we’re neglecting something that is practical and the timing is right, and the need is important (perhaps even critical).  

     In all our various roles as Christians, we don’t always have the luxury John and I had. We are called to good works, to obedience, to avoid becoming lukewarm.

     The New Year is a good time to ponder those things we may have let slide – what we once were excited about doing but haven’t carried through. If we have, in effect, decided “Naaaah, I’m good where I am”, we need to prayerfully ask whether God agrees with that.

“This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men.” Titus 3:8 NKJV

 

The Grand Quest – “Be Holy”, for Our God is Holy

/ Bill Jones / 31 Comments

     When our son, Daniel, was a youngster, we spent hours playing the Super Mario Brothers videogame. The game is a quest to rescue Princess Peach Toadstool from the evil villain, Bowser. The players run, jump, and bounce their way through different levels until they meet Bowser face to face on a bridge over a lake of lava. If they defeat him there, they can enter the dungeon and free the princess.

     Daniel was more successful than I was in this game (and all the others we played too). Nevertheless, after much failure and many “GAME OVER” endings, I eventually sent Bowser into oblivion and triumphantly entered the dungeon. My quest was complete and the princess was free, but the results were short-lived. When I reset the game, she went back into captivity.

     Along with that minor quest of freeing the princess, God has blessed me to complete some more significant ones. I graduated and found a good job, and I married the love of my life (thankfully, that was a jointly pursued quest!)

     However, there are many more that seem never-ending, and, at times, don’t have a clear objective. I am searching for what it means, and striving to be, a good: husband, father, grandfather, church-member, and brother to others in my life. While “good” is the part that is not always well defined in my mind, I do know where I should be headed. These quests all relate to learning and obeying God’s Word, and can be summed up in the Grand Quest that the Lord has given us:

“but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”  1 Peter 1:15-16 NKJV

     Now that’s a quest to stand in awe of! We’re supposed to be holy: set apart, different from the world around us, pure. Regretfully, there are quite a few times during my days when that’s not the case – either in word, thought, or action (or the lack thereof).

     The Bible teaches that we won’t reach that perfection in these mortal bodies. But, while it is a daunting task, it’s not impossible to get closer to it every day. It’s possible to make progress because we are not alone in the quest – God has sent the Holy Spirit to guide and strengthen us. “He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” 1 John 4:4 NKJV

     When we consider our weaknesses, we may believe this quest is never-ending. However, we can be assured it will be completed – not through our own strength, but because Jesus paid the price for our sins. In Heaven, we will be presented “faultless (holy) before the presence of His glory, with exceeding joy” Jude 1:24 NKJV.

     Finally, we know it won’t be temporary. There is no reset button that sends us back into captivity. We will eternally be with God, and more fully understand that it was not our quest at all – it was the Lord carrying us along in His quest to bring all His children home.

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This post is part of the Christian Writers blog chain. Our theme for this month is “Quest”. Please see the list to the right and visit my friends’ blogs to see what they have to say about this topic.

10 New Year’s Resolutions from the Psalms

/ Bill Jones / 10 Comments
English: Scroll of the Psalms

Scroll of the Psalms

I usually post once a week, but thought I’d add this one since it deals with the New Year:         

            As many people do at the New Year, I was thinking about resolutions. I realized that many of the Psalms contain “I will (or shall)” or “I will (or shall) not”. That sounded like resolutions to me, so here is a list of 10 New Year’s resolutions from The Psalms.

 Psalms 4:8 – I will lie down, both in peace and in sleep. For You alone, Jehovah, make me dwell in safety.

 Psalms 5:3 – My voice You shall hear in the morning, O Jehovah; in the morning I will direct my prayer to You, and I will look up.

 Psalms 18:2 – Jehovah is my strength, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my rock; I will trust in Him; He is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower.

 Psalms 26:1 – Judge me, O Jehovah; for I have walked in my truthfulness. I have trusted also in Jehovah; I shall not slide.

 Psalms 42:5 – Why are you cast down, O my soul, and moan within me? Hope in God; for I shall praise Him for the salvation of His face.

 Psalms 44:6 – For I will not trust in my bow, neither shall my sword save me.

Psalms 56:4 – In God I will praise His Word; in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do to me.

Psalms 62:6 – He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my strong tower; I shall not be shaken.

Psalms 119:33 – Teach me, O LORD, the way of thy statutes; and I shall keep it unto the end.

Psalms 119:34 – Give me understanding, and I shall keep Your Law; yea, I shall observe it with all my heart.

Christmas is Past, New Years is here – What now?

/ Bill Jones / 2 Comments

           We just celebrated Christmas. We sang “Joy to the World!” as we should – joyfully! Hopefully, that joy remains, but with Christmas past, and a new year before us, what comes next? As always, we can look to Scripture to give us an example.

            In the second chapter of Luke, we read the Christmas Story – the census that brought Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem; Jesus’ birth and His being laid in the manger because there was no room at the inn; the angel revealing the good news to the shepherds; the shepherds running to see, and then glorifying and praising God.

            Then, we read of Jesus being taken to the temple when he was 8 days old. Simeon and Anna were there and both recognized, by the Holy Spirit, that this baby was the Messiah.

            The next specific thing we read about is a trip Jesus’ family took to Jerusalem for the Passover. After the feast, Joseph and Mary started home and unknowingly left Jesus behind. When they discovered He wasn’t with their relatives, they hurried back to Jerusalem. They found Him in the temple, talking with the teachers.

            Mary confronted Jesus and asked why He had worried them so. Jesus replied: “Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?”Luke 2:49 NKJV

            As we leave Christmas, 2011, behind and look forward into 2012, we can consider Jesus’ example recorded after the Christmas Story. We can “be about our Father’s business.”                

            I’m going to try something different this week. I’m not going to tell you what I think that means, but I’ll ask what you think. Please take a few seconds and leave a comment on how you think we should “be about our Father’s business” in 2012. As we get some comments (hopefully!), that should give us all more to think about.