Introduction:
Two teenage brothers grew up as hooligans in a slum, making a living as couriers of illegal substances traded in the streets. These egocentric thugs religiously kept their dodgy earnings and shrewdly started their own illicit modus operandi until they became self-made millionaires in their mid-40’s. They’re extremely fussy in accommodating friends, in fact; they didn’t have many, only a chosen few, yet still mistrusted. They’re both overly protective of their ill-gotten wealth. They never got married for fear of loosing even a meager fraction of their fortune. But they both spent their lives in an unrivaled debauchery. They frequented the most opulent casinos, clubs, and bars in the city. One past midnight, the elder brother had a stroke. He died instantly. As a show off, the surviving brother arranged a gaudy funeral. He even paid people a hefty amount to attend his dead brother’s vigil. He made a very bold attempt - he asked the priest in town to proclaim his brother a saint during the burial rites. The priest, who knew these hoodlums from their childhood, vocally refused. The younger brother adamantly insisted and gestured to bribe the priest $100K to compromise to his ridiculous bid. Upon hearing the amount, the priest said, "Son, with the power vested upon me by the church, I believe we can do something about it". The deal was closed – 50% payment in advance and the balance after the burial.
Burial day came and the priest started to orate before an audience close to fifty, more than half was paid for their attendance. In an introduction, the priest spoke, "This man is a monument of the saying - from rags to riches", the brother curtly grinned staring at the pricey casket of his dead brother. The priest continued in a poetic intonation, "He is an example of hard work; he showed us how to live life to the fullest", the surviving brother took a long deep breath and crossed his arms on his chest, now gazing at the huge posh bouquet of purple orchids next to the coffin. "His business activities have helped many community people find jobs that fed their families", the priest exclaimed in a much louder voice. The brother began to be wary of the priest’s flattering oratory. He wanted to hear the priest proclaim his brother a saint. The priest lowered his voice to casual tone and said, "We all know that this man was an unfair employer, drunkard, gambler, womanizer, and a drug user". The surviving brother’s face turned ruddy and his eyebrows met in opposition; gawking at the priest with his hands on his waist. "Though this wealthy brute had so much, he never gave to charity or to the cause of the church", the priest firmly exclaimed. Those words were more than what the surviving brother can muster. He paced forward to shame the priest but the priest, at the top of his lungs and with open hands stretched towards the brother, proclaimed, "But, comparing to his surviving brother, HE IS A SAINT!"
How do people label us last year? If God’s accounting angels would make a balance sheet of our lives, will they realize profit or deficit? Who we were on the last minute of 2009 was framed by our lifestyle exhibited from day-one to the end of last year. Solomon had two categories of human beings: the Wise and the Fool – the two infinite opposites. The wise listens more, talks less, while the fool is otherwise. The wise wins souls, while the fool wounds souls. I would add, "The wise seeks Christ while the fool shuns Him. And when Christ is met, the wise receives Him while the fool rejects Him".
Proposition:
In the same way that we lived last year, there will be life’s challenges that we need to face again this year. They could be much tougher than the ones that we were able to overcome last year. There are several principles that I can suggest we need to take to face the challenges of the New Year:
1. Analyze your Past!
2. Stabilize your Present!
3. Organize your Future!
With these principles, we should be able to face and eventually overcome the challenges that we would face this year 2010.
1. Analyze your Past!
"Be very careful, then, how you live-- not as unwise but as wise…"
How did you live your life in 2009?
Illustration:
I heard of a machine that analyzes a person’s life. I don’t know how true it is because I haven’t seen one. You only need to insert a coin, punch your gender, age, weight, height, smoker or non-smoker, press "go"… and bingo… in few seconds you get a stub that tells you how long you would live. Too good to be true!
There are several areas in our lives that we need to carefully analyze. Our personal life. Can we remember how did we manage our finances, emotions, plans and other facets of our private life? Our professional life. Do you know how do people in your workplace label you? Our family life. Is it clear to you how your spouse, kids, siblings, and perhaps parents look to you? Our fellowship life. And how about your church people/brethren, how do they value you, a blessing or a burden?
I can say, "A careful evaluation of our past is equivalent to a skillful preparation for the present". We need to go back to the database of our past and see the thoughts that we had, the words that we spoke, the feelings that we displayed, and the actions that we did. And, if our memory serves us well, we also need to recall why we had and did them. Then, finally, we need to clearly remember the consequences of having and doing them.
2. Stabilize your Present!
"…making the most of every opportunity…"
How will you commit your life in 2010?
Our commitment will always be based on our decisions. There are two paths that we need to choose from – God’s Will or Our Will! The question lies on how we choose and decide.
Illustration:
Mom stood in front of the vending machine at the highway rest stop. Mom, Rita, and Kim were on their way home from camp. "What kind of candy would you like, Rita?" she asked. "I don’t know," Rita said. She turned to her friend. "You choose first, Kim." Kim crossed her arms and tapped her foot. "OK." She thought for just a moment. "I’m in the mood for a Smackaroon bar, please," she said to Rita’s mom. "A Smackaroon bar it is," Mom said as she inserted the coins and pressed the button. "Now, Rita, have you made a decision yet?" Rita smiled and nodded. "I’ll have the same thing she chose," she announced. Mom inserted more coins and pushed the same button. Rita pulled her candy bar from the machine, and the two girls walked back to the car with Mom.
"It was interesting to watch you two girls make choices," Mom said. "You chose your candy the way a lot of people try to make right choices." "What do you mean, Mom?" Rita asked. "Well, some people try to make right choices the way Kim chose her candy bar. They try to decide what’s right or wrong based on how they feel. For example, if they feel mad, they think it’s all right to hit someone or call someone a name." Mom, Rita, and Kim got into the car, and Mom continued talking as she drove. "Other people try to make right choices the way you chose your candy bar, Rita. They try to decide what’s right or wrong depending on what everyone else is doing. If they see other people cheating or breaking the law, they think it’s OK for them to do it too."
"You’re right, Mom," Rita said. "I never thought of that before." "It would be kind of dumb to choose right and wrong the way we choose a candy bar, wouldn’t it?" Kim said. She and Rita exchanged smiles. "I think so," Mom said. "Instead of making decisions based on how you feel or what other people are doing, I hope you girls will always make your choices according to what God says to do. If you do that, you won’t go wrong." "Uh, Mom," Rita called. "You just made a wrong choice." "What’s that?" Mom asked. "You passed our house!" (Josh McDowell).
Follow God’s perfect will and plans. It’s totally free and entails no hassle. Jeremiah assures us, "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jer. 29:11. However, permissively, sometimes He may allow us to trek our own chosen trails but it will cost us a huge price to pay to, once again, be restored to God’s perfect plan. Learn from the records of Abraham, a friend of God; Moses, the chosen servant-deliverer of Israel; David, the man after God’s own heart; and Samson, the he- man of Israel. There is one thing I am sure of: If we follow God’s will and plans, He will never rob us of our pleasures and happiness.
3. Organize your Future!
"…because the days are evil..."
How are you going to use your time in 2010?
Time is what we all have in equal proportion, rich and poor; young and old; man and woman. No one person is bestowed more than 24 hours a day, or more than seven days a week. We have 365 days this year and have already spent some of them. What we make of our time this year will make or unmake us at yearend. Definitely. We may have lofty goals and plans for the future but if we do not carefully organize and focus on the details of our daily walk, we would end up strolling to nowhere.
Illustration:
The place: Dublin, Ireland. The time: Toward the end of the nineteenth century. The event: A series of blistering attacks on Christianity, especially the "alleged resurrection" of Jesus of Nazareth. The person: Thomas Henry Huxley. You remember Huxley? He was a devoted disciple of Charles Darwin. Sir Huxley, a famous biologist, teacher, author, defender of the theory of evolution, bold, convincing self-avowed humanist, and a traveling lecturer.
Having finished another series of public assaults against several truths Christians held sacred, Huxley was in a hurry the following morning to catch his train to the next city. He took one of Dublin’s famous horse-drawn taxis and settled back with his eyes closed to rest himself for a few minutes. He assumed the driver had been told the destination by the hotel doorman, so all he said as he got in was, "Hurry . . . I’m almost late. Drive fast!" The horses lurched forward and galloped across Dublin at a vigorous pace. Before long Huxley glanced out the window and frowned as he realized they were going west, away from the sun, not toward it. Leaning forward, the scholar shouted, "Do you know where you are going?" Without looking back, the driver yelled a classic line, not meant to be humorous, "No, your honor! But I’m driving very fast!" (sermoncentral.com).
There is a Japanese saying, "A vision without action is just a daydream, but an action without vision is plain disaster." Success can be guaranteed if we plan our endeavors and eventually endeavor as we planned. An author wrote, "Failing to plan is planning to fail". I agree. Our time is one of the most valuable possessions that God gave us. But take note:
Time is irreversible. We cannot rewind it. We are living in a generation that recycles everything that can be recycled. We cannot recycle time.
Time is irreplaceable. Benjamin Franklin once said, "Don’t squander time, for that is the stuff life is primarily made of". We cannot replace time.
Time is indispensable. Queen Elizabeth 1, before her death, said, "I shall leave my throne, my Kingdom for a moment in time". We should not undervalue time.
Conclusion:
It seems to me that 2009 went by faster than 2008 did. We may have the same feeling at the end of this year. Years come and go faster as they may seem. Are you ready to face the challenges of this year? Gear up my friend. Analyze your past! Go back to the database of your thoughts, emotions and actions. Understand why you had and did them, and remember how they impacted your life. Stabilize your present! Choose today and decide whose plans you will follow. I urge you to follow God’s perfect will, though it seems and feels unpleasant at first. It always ends up for our good. Organize your future! Value your time as God values it. Time is irreversible, irreplaceable, and indispensable. Only then shall we be ready to face the challenges of 2010.
