A New Year A New You Part I

A New Year, A New You. Part I

Well Christmas came upon us so fast and now it has passed. And now comes the season of Deck the Halls with piles and piles of bills to help us remember what we did this Christmas season. Maybe you heard the story of the young college student and she came running in tears to her father. She said to her father “Dad you gave me some terrible financial advice!” I did?” What did I tell you said the puzzled father? The girl responded and said “You told me to put my money in that big bank, and not that big bank is in trouble.” What are you talking about? That is one of the largest banks in the state.” He said. There must be some mistake.” Well I don’t think so she cried.” They just returned one of my checks with a note on it saying “Insufficient funds.”

You may never have experienced insufficient funds in your life, but Christmas time can easily share with us low funds. If only we could replace that with lower weight we would be doing okay. Well the New Year is only a few days away. Soon we will be struggling to remember to write 2008 instead of 2007 on those checks. And as we enter into this part of the year, we ask ourselves what will the New Year bring?

A poet once wrote:

Life is a book of volumes three

The past the present and the yet to be.

The first is written and laid away

The second we are writing day by day.

The next and the last of the volumes three

Is locked from sight. God holds the key.

New Years is always the perfect opportunity for us to reflect on the past to recommit to the present and to plan for the future. The great intellectual giant Socrates once said “an unexamined life is not worth living.” And so at the end of 2007 and the beginning of 2008 I want to invite you to journey into a period of self-examination as we examine our lives and place under the microscope our relationship to God.

I remember hearing adults tell me how fast time flies the older you get and while I am still young I have discovered that as I put on years and pounds I am cognizant of the fact that time does seem to speed up. And so it is important that I focus on how I am living my life and to keen in on the relationship that I have with God. In James 4:14 we find out how quickly time does go by. James 4:14 says “

“Why, you don’t even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” James 4:14

James is describing to us that while it is important to have a form of planning for the future that we also need to be realistic and know that we don’t know what the future holds. And because the future is so uncertain it is imperative that you and I completely depend on God. Life is short no matter how long we live. We shouldn’t be deceived into thinking we have plenty of time left to live for Christ, to enjoy our loved ones, or to do what we know we should. Today is the day to live for God! Then, no matter when our lives end, we will have fulfilled God’s plans for us.

Yet if we truly examine ourselves we will see that it is really completely insane for us to waste part of our lives focused on stupid things such as really wondering what people think about us, harboring grudges and being mad at someone that extend for years, and walking in life constantly fearful of doing something wrong.

And so today I am convinced that the power of God is with us here on December 30, 2007 and if we will do a self examination and be willing to make changes God can create for you and for me an opportunity to live a changed and empowered life. So today let’s look at five common products and examine our lives and our relationship with God and be willing to make the changes that are necessary in life.

The First thing that we should look at:

I. A Mirror—A Reflection of Our Life

Turn with me to James 1: 23-25. We know what a mirror does. It provides us with a detailed look at something mainly our bodies. For many of us, New Years is the least favorite time for us to look into a mirror. But a mirror is an important object for us to look at as it shows us a clear reflection of our life. For instance if we do not take care of ourselves properly then the mirror is one that will not hide our problem areas. It is an honest straight forward look at who we are and what we are made of.