Another Christmas is past and the year draws to a
close. Families all around are cleaning
out the remnants of Christmas. Let me
encourage you as you do to evaluate whether Christ had first place this past
Christmas, and whether he had first place this past year.
Yes, the New Year is a great time to evaluate our
lives. Where have we been and where are
we headed? This takes some careful
examination. Imagine a ship or plane
captain that is only one or two degrees off as they chart their course over the
Atlantic. It seems like it makes no
difference yet when they reach shore they will find they are hundreds of miles
from where they had planned.
Life is similar. We
must carefully examine where we are going.
What may seem OK from a daily perspective in light of eternity may find
us far from where we thought we were headed.
One of the first things to examine is how much am I allowing
the Word of God to impact my life. It
should be our compass that helps us determine where we are headed. Not only do we have the responsibility to be
reading and studying the Bible but we have the responsibility to be under the
teaching of God’s Word on a regular basis.
Some evaluation questions to help me see how I am doing:
11.
Have I been reading/studying God Word on my own?
22.
Am I faithfully attending Church?
33.
If so, are the messages at church driven by
teaching of Scripture based upon the message of the original author to the
original recipients? Or are they based
more upon the opinions of the speaker?
44.
Do the people that attend church with me have a
passion for the Scriptures? Do they
bring their Bibles to church with them? Are they following along in their
Bibles as the pastor preaches? Do they get concerned if the message of day is
not based upon the text of Scripture?
55.
Am I willing to respond to the teaching of God’s
Word and personal study? Do I confess
and forsake sin? Am I concerned with
being obedient to Jesus Christ?
66.
And most importantly, have I place my faith in
Christ by asking forgiveness of my sin believing that Jesus Christ blood is the
only thing sufficient to cleanse me and make me acceptable to God? To trust in anything else whether it is
baptism or any other works will not work.
In Revelation 20:13- 15 God’s Word makes it clear that at the final
judgment all those judged on their works alone will be cast into the Lake of
Fire. It is those who put their faith in
Christ that are saved by God’s grace(Eph. 2:8-9).
I hope that these few words help you set your course
straight for the next year and many to come.
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