A WISE YEAR

“Let us run with determination the race that lies before us. Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from beginning to end” Hebrew 12:1,2 (Living Bible)

Dear brothers and sisters, greetings from Shalom Family Enrichment Mission. May the Year 2015 Bring You Happiness, and Success filled with Peace of Jesus, Hope & Togetherness of your Family & Friends. Wishing You a *HAPPY NEW YEAR 2015*.

As we enter a new year, it is always better to reexamine our life since the supreme purpose of God concerning each of His children is that they would become like His Son Jesus. I want to place before you some words from the NT which I think will really help us think about our lives. “Be very careful, then, how you live–not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.” Eph. 5:15-17.

Paul makes a very important point in those three verses. He points out that every single one of us, who are Christians, are living our lives in one of two ways. You are either living wisely or as Paul says we are living unwisely and foolishly. It is possibly for you to have been saved, to have accepted Christ as your Savior and Lord and yet live your life in way that God calls foolish. One of my greatest heartaches, as a counselor, is the number of God’s people who choose to live foolishly.

Who are unwise in the choices they make in life and the way they live their lives. I would say that you are living foolishly as a Christian if you have higher priorities in your life than Christ and his priorities. I don’t really want to talk a lot about living foolishly as a Christian. Except to say, and maybe even to beg you if you know you have been living that way, to choose to instead in this New Year to live wisely.

That is really what this short passage is all about, how to live wisely as a Christian. Basically what Paul says about how we can live wisely as Christians can be summed up in three verbs, three things that you have to do, to develop spiritual wisdom. They are Decide, Examine, and Plan.

1. DECIDE: Who You Are Going To Please
   Who are you going to live to please in 2015? Will it be God or will it be yourself, or someone else? In the Year that lies ahead in your life, is it going to be your will, what pleases you, or God’s will what pleases him, that will have the final say in what decisions you make in every area of your life. Paul says, “God is always at work in you to make you willing and able to obey His own purpose” (Phil. 2:13). Remember – “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the LORD,”          Jer. 29:11-14.
2. EXAMINE: How you live your life
   God’s Word here says that if we want to live wisely as Christians then we need to make sure that we are regularly giving ourselves a spiritual examination. God tell us here that we have to “be careful how we live”. The Amplified Bible really catches what Paul meant when it translates those words “Look carefully at how you are living”. We have to put our lives under the magnifying glass and look closely at what we see. What we have here is call to examine our spiritual condition and be honest about what we find. In Romans 11:16, we read, “…. If the root is holy, so are the branches”. Chapter 15 of St. John’s Gospel is a beautiful chapter in which we read that the Lord expects us to remain in Him and bear fruits. The verse 16 says “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit – fruit that will last. Then the Father will give whatever you ask in My Name”.
3. PLAN: How you will use your time
   Paul says we have to make the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Or as Living Bible translations puts it “Make good use of every opportunity you have because these are evil days”. The difference between living foolishly and living wisely is what we do with the time we have. Once a minute is gone it’s gone and gone for good; you will never get it back. Characteristics of time are: 1. Irreversible; 2. Irreplaceable; and 3. Precious. That is why Jesus often used the word “today”. Time is precious and that means just like money it can be invested wisely or foolishly. The way to make sure you invest your time wisely and don’t waste it foolishly is to plan what you are going to do with your time.

Finally as we walk through this New Year, let us run with a purpose so that our life may be a purpose driven life. Let us always keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and not on this world. Let us practice what David has said in Psalms 15, verse 8 “I have set the LORD always before me. Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken”.

So if you want to be wise this year, then decide, examine and plan.

Prayer: Master give us the grace to spend this year wisely with your guidance. In Jesus Name I pray. Amen.