We have about a foot of snow on the groundafter today's winter storm.
As 2008 dwindles down to its last few days I find myself in a reflective mood. Each year around this time, as the new year approaches I think back over the past twelve months: In what ways have I grown personally? What were my triumphs; my defeats? I try and recall the memorable events that occurred over the course of the year; to mark them; to somehow imprint them on my mind. I'm afraid much of what we experience is lost; our heads are like cluttered attics. We're preoccupied with the busyness of our daily lives and so, we miss many an opportunity to grow in our faith; in our love; in our relationships - vertically with God and horizontally with each other.
Put another way, what did I live for as the Earth made its most recent journey 'round the Sun? Did I live for my own sake; looking for experiences; for pleasures; for ways to gratify myself? Or rather, was I resolute in my expressed intention to live for the sake of the Kingdom of God? If not the latter, then how might I remember my failings and endeavor not to repeat them?
This year the Lord set a number of challenges before me. I'd like to report that I triumphed every time; that I leaped over each hurdle with inches to spare! However, I must confess that as I look back I see myself having stumbled on numerous occasions. I think it's of the utmost importance for us who are called by Christ's name to mark those places where we tripped; recall those personal failings. In honest introspection, endeavor to understand that apart from Jesus there dwells in us no good thing.
Our Father in Heaven will continue to bring us back to that point where we failed in order to assist us in gaining victory. It's all about living a fruitful life. As I said in my previous post, expect some pruning in your life to optimize your yield.
One who lives his life for his own sake is like the old apple tree that grows on the edge of the woods near our home. No one attends to it, prunes it, or cultivates the soil in which it grows. Each year it simply stretches as best it can, competing with the larger trees around it for whatever moisture and rays of sunlight it can gather unto itself. Each year it bears a little fruit; bitter fruit which withers on its branches and falls to the ground. Whatever isn't consumed by scavengers is absorbed by the soil and taken unto itself by its own roots.
Please read Proverbs 3: 11-12
Put another way, what did I live for as the Earth made its most recent journey 'round the Sun? Did I live for my own sake; looking for experiences; for pleasures; for ways to gratify myself? Or rather, was I resolute in my expressed intention to live for the sake of the Kingdom of God? If not the latter, then how might I remember my failings and endeavor not to repeat them?
This year the Lord set a number of challenges before me. I'd like to report that I triumphed every time; that I leaped over each hurdle with inches to spare! However, I must confess that as I look back I see myself having stumbled on numerous occasions. I think it's of the utmost importance for us who are called by Christ's name to mark those places where we tripped; recall those personal failings. In honest introspection, endeavor to understand that apart from Jesus there dwells in us no good thing.
Our Father in Heaven will continue to bring us back to that point where we failed in order to assist us in gaining victory. It's all about living a fruitful life. As I said in my previous post, expect some pruning in your life to optimize your yield.
One who lives his life for his own sake is like the old apple tree that grows on the edge of the woods near our home. No one attends to it, prunes it, or cultivates the soil in which it grows. Each year it simply stretches as best it can, competing with the larger trees around it for whatever moisture and rays of sunlight it can gather unto itself. Each year it bears a little fruit; bitter fruit which withers on its branches and falls to the ground. Whatever isn't consumed by scavengers is absorbed by the soil and taken unto itself by its own roots.
Please read Proverbs 3: 11-12
It is so easy to get "off track" in the busyness of life; it is quite a bit more difficult, getting back "on track". My hopes and prayers and goals for 2009 are to be steady on the track and to draw closer to my Lord.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing from your heart. Your wisdom and insight really needs to go into a book!