As Christ's people how are we to approach the year's end...is every day the same, so therefore there is no difference between Dec. 31st and January 1? Or does it provide us an opportunity to think about where we've come from over the last year and give some opportunity to think about where the year ahead is going?
Of course there's something for ignoring the present and casting our hope on what we're going to do that is not necessarily helpful. Here's one passage that speaks to me about that: Luke 12:13-21 (ESV)
13 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” 14 But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?”
15 And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”
16 And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully,
17 and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’
18 And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.
19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’
20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’
21 So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”
I especially am drawn to the words that Jesus uses at the end... "one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God."
I remember growing up in a household without a lot of money. My father's concept of money was "if you want something go out and earn it...work until you can afford to get it". There was no borrowing, no credit, no advances. So after three summers of canning factory work, paying for my college tuition, room, board, etc...I had enough saved for the best car I ever owned - a 1964 Mercury Breezeway. It had a rear window that was slanted and would go down. I loved this car. This was a car that had a V8 engine that was so smooth, and a touch of the accelerator meant I was cruising at 65, and then push the button and the rear window went down, letting in air without it blowing on your face. I've never forgotten that car. Yet two years into owning it, I got into a winter storm and collided with a vehicle in front of me, and then six other cars hit each other behind me...my Mercury was an accordion, both front and rear were damaged beyond repair. At the time I thought I'd get another one, but I didn't, and now it's a distant, but still good, memory.
That bit of musing in the past is a way of saying that all things in this life will end...no matter how much we love them. When a life consists of the thirst for more and more, while ignoring the real issue of life - where am I headed? - Well let's just say the scripture says that a person like that is a fool...Jesus said it, look back at Vs 20.
Let's be rich towards God...acknowledge that everything we are, everything we have, everything we are living for is ultimately all from God. We gain our possessions because we work, and that work is a gift of God. We give ourselves to others because that is also a gift of God.
At the end of the year, we begin again...new steps are taken...and old ones can be erased. In the past there are things we can say "I'm glad this is over", and hopefully there are things we can say, "I'm glad I was there". But no matter, we can always know that God was there. He has been with us through all of our living...in the past. Now, what would it be like for us to think..."He's with me right now...and will be with me throughout this day...and into this next year."?
This is my quest...that the end is just the beginning of a new walk with God.
Peace
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