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For
me, January and diets go together...
It began
unexpectedly when I was about 35. I noticed that year for
the first time that when I looked down after Christmas that
all of the goodies I had eaten during the holidays were still
with me. This watershed event changed my life forever. I don't
want you to believe that I started from that minute to watch
what I ate and exercise more in order to keep my weight down
and stay healthy. What I began to struggle with was when I
should start my diet. There are all sorts of things that need
to be taken into consideration. Not the least of which is
what you are having for dinner. Obviously if it is something
really good you need to delay starting your
diet. Other important factors to be considered are holidays
and vacations. If they are coming up soon there is no sense
loosing weight that you know you are going to put right back
on again.
You can see how important and difficult the decision to truly
begin any thing can become. The New Year is traditionally
a time when we begin new projects and disciplines in our lives.
Yet like my diet there always seem to be hundreds of reasons
why we should put it off. This is true of our faith lives
as well. As Christian most of us know that there are activities
and disciplines that should have a regular place in our lives
but there always seems to be a good reason why we should put
off making the decision to start. The apostle Paul makes short
work of those who would like to put off making hard decisions
about their faith life, he simply says "See, now is the
acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation!" (NRS
2 Cor. 6:2) Truly the only time that we have is now. The past
has gone by and the future is not accessible and uncertain.
If we do not seize the day our whole life may pass us by before
we decide to act.
So what are some of the decisions that we need to make in
order to deepen our faith walk? First of all we need to decide
for ourselves if Jesus is good news. If God being available
in your life through the person of Jesus Christ is good news
for you then shouldn't it be good news for others? Deciding
our faith is important enough to practice and share is critical
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The second decision is about discipleship. Do you know your
faith well? What was the main point of Jesus teaching? What
was his mission? Perhaps one decision you need to make is
to join a Bible study to deepen your knowledge of the faith.
Another
thing to be considered is involvement. People never have a
problem finding time for the things that are important to
them. Regular Church attendance and involvement in at least
one activity that is helping you to grow in your faith is
a minimum for someone who is serious about their faith. Find
time to grow your faith this coming year, you will regret
it.
Giving is also indispensable to the Christian life. Many people
believe that tithing, giving 10% of your income to God is
only an Old Testament thing. When Jesus speaks of tithing
though, he assumes that it is being practiced. He scolds the
Pharisees for their attitude toward other people and informs
them that their tithing is just a matter of course. "Woe
to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint,
dill, and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters
of the law: justice and mercy and faith. It is these you ought
to have practiced without neglecting the others (NRS Matthew
23:23). Generosity has always been one of the hallmarks of
God's people. Many of us are a long way from tithing in our
faith lives. For some it would not be a wise financial decision.
Yet Most of us could increase our commitment to our faith.
Even if a jump from where you are to a tithe would be difficult
an increase of 1 or 2 percent of our income would not be too
great a strain.
Now is the time! As we begin this New Year let us decide together
to put Jesus first in our lives. As God has blessed us let
us decide in our turn to be a blessing to others.
Pastor Jim Bliss
Pastor's Notes Archive
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