When someone is out of step with the rest of the world it is often said that they march to the beat of a different drummer. As I look forward to the New Year it strikes me yet again that this is something that is most certainly true of someone who seeks to follow the way of Christ as opposed to the ways of the world. Even our New Year celebration is out of whack. For the most of world it is January first, for us as Christians it is the first Sunday in Advent, almost a month before.

We start our year preparing to welcome Christ anew into our world and into our hearts. We do this knowing that true change, the kind that matters can only happen by the grace of God, a grace that is embodied in the person Of Jesus Christ. In our worldly celebration we make resolutions, thinking about the changes we would like to make and trusting that we have the power to make them happen by ourselves. If your track record is anything like mine there are a lot of broken resolutions behind us. Why is it with the best of intentions, with all the resolution we can muster, that we end up unable to carry out our own best wishes? This is not an uncommon question even Saint Paul asked it of himself. In his own words he stated the problem quite plainly; I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. (Romans 7:19) Or as Shakespeare put it, “the best laid plans of mice and men oft go astray.” It makes things seem kind of hopeless, yet desperate people across the centuries have discovered the same truth, a truth Jesus taught his first disciples two thousand years ago. When they encountered this same kind of a difficulty he simply said; "For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.” (Mark 10:28)

This is not a secret teaching; it just goes against human nature. We would rather do things ourselves. For most things this works well and God rejoices in our accomplishments just as much as we do. But when it comes to the kind of things we usually include in our New Years resolutions we might want to think again. A lot of times these are things we have tried to change before, often many times before. Losing weight, kicking destructive habits or any kind of major lifestyle change often takes more will power than we can muster.

People who have overcome and made these kinds of lifestyle changes like those who have been through AA will tell you that no one makes it through without the help of a higher power.
Now all of a sudden beginning our Christian New year with a time of preparation, a time before we begin a difficult task or make a difficult commitment, when we welcome God into our hearts and ask him to walk with us through the difficulties begins to make a lot of sense. It is the very essence of what it means to walk by faith. When we trust god to walk with us through difficult life changes what was once impossible now can be accomplished, not by us but by God who walks with us. Saint Paul put it this way; I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:13)

There are always changes that we need to make in our lives and the New Year is traditional time to begin many of these changes. But if your track record is anything like mine there is a pretty dim hope real success. Maybe this time we should try marching to the beat of Jesus’ drum as we move into the New Year. If we seek God as we make our plans, before we attempt major life changes it is an act of faith, the trust that is need to give god a position in our lives where help and guidance is actually possible. The wisdom of beginning our year preparing to welcome God into our lives makes things possible that we could not accomplish even in our wildest dreams. As you begin this world’s New Year remember to take time to bring God into your plans. Take time to worship, make prayer a new priority and most of all take time to just listen for God’s guidance for only then are you truly walking by faith. You might find that those things which were impossible before have suddenly, by the grace of God, become possible.

Pastor Jim Bliss
January 2007