Faithful in 2013?

It’s nearly the end of 2012!

I’ve already started planning for 2013, paying special attention to the areas of my life I believe God wants me to exercise faithfulness in.

Proverbs 20:6 (ESV) - Many a man proclaims his own steadfast love, but a faithful man who can find?

This passage tells me that faithfulness, a person who can diligently exercise faithfulness in his or her life, is a rare find.

Proverbs 28:20 (ESV) - A faithful man will abound with blessings, but whoever hastens to be rich will not go unpunished.

In this passage, we see that faithfulness does not only lead to blessing, it leads to an abundance of blessing. Sounds good to me! People, however, tend not to appreciate the value of regular consistent effort, whether in their health (eating, exercise and rest habits), work or in other areas. They tend to do things in spurts, hoping that the next special gym machine, money-making opportunity or chocolate-fudge-cake-diet plan that comes down the road is THE answer to the toned physique, loaded bank account and weight loss that they SAY they really want.

That is especially true in money-making, by the way. People who are hasty to be rich can end up shutting off their common sense or conscience. I remember being prospected by someone for a lottery-based “business opportunity”, in which people pay money to buy lottery tickets as a group and share the earnings. The company also paid recruiters for every person who was recruited into the scheme.

When I told the fellow I really wasn’t interested and did not want to be involved with anything involving the lottery, he mocked me for my qualms, especially since he COULD  prove that the government has given this company license to operate in Singapore. My reply was, “So what if it is legal? Prostitution is also legal in this country, does that mean I want to become a pimp?”

Needless to say, I didn’t win any friends that day…

The spiritual equivalent for charismatics would be hoping that the next anointed preacher who prays for them or the next big overseas seminar they attend will suddenly catapult them into the heights of their walk with God. In the meantime, however, they neglect prayer, renewing their minds with Scripture and regular serving in church (to actually put into practice what they learn from the Bible and the preaching).

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that there is no room in a believer’s life for attending special seminars and all that. I’m just saying that seminars and other events cannot replace regular, consistent time and effort in the basic disciplines of the Christian walk.

Faithfulness does NOT mean complacency

I know someone who has been a church-goer for 15 years (or more). Whenever he ran into spiritual problems and started complaining about God letting him down, I would ask him “Have you been reading your Bible?” And he would say, “Yes. I did my daily chapter of Proverbs. Why? Isn’t that good enough?”

When you are a baby Christian, the daily chapter of Proverbs (moving on to a new chapter each day and starting again from the beginning when you have completed the whole book) is fantastic. When you are supposed to move on and grow up, however…

And personally I doubt he is consistent with even one chapter of Proverbs a day. I believe that people who are consistent with Scripture grow in their appetite and hunger. They want to explore and meditate on the rest of the Bible also, now that they have tasted and seen that the LORD is good (Psalm 34:10).

Especially in spiritual matters, we ought always to seek to expand our understanding of God and his ways, and live them out in our lives.

Hebrews 6:1 (ESV) - Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God…

This passage is the background to one of the sternest warnings given in Scripture.

Hebrews 6:4-6 (ESV) - For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit,  and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.

Often, people look at this passage and argue about the doctrine of eternal security, whether it is possible for a believer to lose his or her salvation. But that is missing the most important point here. The purpose of this passage is to warn us and urge us to grow up in Christ. Whatever you think the warning means, we can all agree that it is something bad. We don’t want to go there, and the correct response to that warning is to grow up.

So what is God nudging you to be faithful in for 2013?

What will is it that will give you the greatest bang for your buck, the most results for your time and the greatest growth in your life in 2013? It is going to be different for everyone. Talk with your pastor or a good friend, someone who has known you and your life for years, and ask for their advice if you have no idea.

We are not talking about massive time commitments, such as attending Bible college full-time (though I’m sure you will know if you have to). I’m much more small scale in thinking: what would be the best way for YOU, to invest 20-30 minutes a day, every weekday, for the next year? Exercise? Music practice? Scripture reading? Learning new songs? Family time with the kids?

For me, for example, I need to spend a lot more time in the New Testament next year. Following my Bible reading plan this year showed me that I am not as familiar with the New Testament as I want to be. But my ego fights against the idea, since it looks like a step down. My pride says that I ought to go through the entire Bible again, and expect it to work out better next year. But given that I am struggling to keep up with this year’s readings (and have them sink inside me) while juggling work, family and my health, I think I ought to just work on my weaker areas and add in other stuff (like Psalms, Proverbs and the Minor Prophets) after that.

Then Get Started

Find some way, even if it is just 20 minutes a week, to get started before the next year. Many people try to start new habits at the beginning of the year, and find it too much of a change. Far better to start gradually now and step up the pace when January 2013 comes. 

And when it comes to meditating on the Bible, I am toying with the idea of setting up a Facebook group where people can join and find others to hold them accountable to their commitment to God’s Word. And if that interests you, email me and let me know!

In the meantime, however, do seek God for his wisdom and direction for 2013. It will be upon us soon. Let’s face it with a clear direction from God as to what he wants us to achieve and how.

Be blessed!

Like Water in the Morning

I drink a cup (or two) of water every morning, before I take breakfast in any form.

I gulp it down as I wait for the water to boil and I get my kids ready for school. I read in passing that the body is dehydrated and all that water will help to flush out toxins, waste matter and all that. *shrug* Maybe that helps explain my kid-like face after all these years?

Whenever I drink the water, I feel like it’s a clean slate, a fresh start to the day, as if all my dietary transgressions of yesterday have been wiped out. I’ve now got today to eat right. Over the past year or so I’ve grown very careless with my diet. Because I am usually traveling around all day for work, I end up eating fast food, sometimes even up to 5 times a week. It’s not good for me, and I know it. So the morning water is a symbol to me, that maybe, just maybe, today is the day I can start getting things right?

Likewise, sometimes we need spiritual symbols to tell us the same thing, that our sins and failures of yesterday (and last week, last month, last year and so on…) need not hold us back today. Today we have a clean slate, a fresh start with God, so maybe today is the day we can start getting things right?

Lamentations 3:22-24 (NIV) - Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning;  great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.”

Because God himself is faithful to us, we have hope. We can believe that God can rescue us from the pit that we are trapped in, whether it’s bondage to sin, tribulations or other stuff.

Lamentations 3:55-57 (NIV) - I called on your name, O LORD, from the depths of the pit. You heard my plea: “Do not close your ears to my cry for relief.” You came near when I called you, and you said, “Do not fear.”

God’s compassions towards us are renewed every morning. That is true even in the midst of afflictions. But we need to be deliberate in recalling his mercy and his faithfulness. The passage in Lamentations 3, just before the first Scripture we looked at, say:

Lamentations 3:19-21 (NIV) - I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope.

When we are suffering, remembering the suffering is easy. It grips our minds and our souls relentlessly. People can end up addicted to drugs or alcohol during such seasons, because all they want is some temporary relief from remembering the pain. It takes deliberate and disciplined effort (“This I call to mind) to remember the goodness of God. We see this in the Psalms too, where the psalmist has to force himself to hope in God.

Psalm 42:11 (NIV) - Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.

Notice how the psalmist speaks firmly to his soul here? In my personal experience, it is not enough to just think happy thoughts, or even holy thoughts. I had to open my lips and speak to my soul.

What is our reason for hope and courage?

Lamentations 3:24 (NIV) - I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.”

Say it to your soul right now, “The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” Say it again. And again, until you really believe it!

What happens when we know the LORD is our portion? We experience his presence and are open to being guided by him. We know we have a glorious destiny in him. Our desires for the temporal things of this world fade and our hearts are strengthened. Consider this:

Psalm 73:23-26 (NIV) - Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand.
You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory.
Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

Conclusion:
If you are facing a tough season, whether from external trials or your own internal struggles with sin, may I be the bearer of unpleasant news? You won’t feel better, you won’t get stronger, the problems won’t go away, without YOU rising up and taking charge over them. Your soul, your emotions, will NOT settle down unless you do something about them. And the “something” I am talking about here is NOT numbing your soul with drink, TV or K-pop videos on Youtube. 

I’m talking about speaking the Word of God to your soul, remembering the goodness of God and his faithfulness. If the troubles are heavy, you should even look for regular times during the day when you will habitually remind yourself of God’s compassion and faithfulness. For example, I have tied in certain household chores with my daily confession of Scripture. You can do the same, you just need to find daily events or moments to meditate on the Scripture.

And the good news is, when you take charge over the problems, to shake of the despondency, the guilt and condemnation, the hopelessness and depression, your spirit starts rising up. Your courage and hope starts to seep into your mind and heart. You realize that you can have peace even in the midst of the storm, you can rejoice even during the trials.

Be blessed!