If you’re reading this, God bless you for spending time to pay my mind and heart a visit. Your treasure is in heaven.
Here’s one big ol’ “mazel tov” for the New Year! Wherever you spent it, I hope you enjoyed every second of the dying hours of 2011, and the adolescent minutes of 2012. And if you’re the “it’s not that big of a deal, it’s just like any other celebration” type… well, God bless you too. Your treasure is in heaven.
Like many do, in the social construct of New Year’s resolutions, I took some time to reflect on the positives and challenging shortcomings of my year. In this process, I made a terrible terrible mistake. I made the decision to count my blessings first, and then end delving into the series of unfortunate events of my year. At least for me, the reason why such an approach is a travesty of justice is because it ends on a bad-tasting note. It is self-absorbed.
My heart has honestly been heavy and troubled. As I proceeded to count my not-so-delectable challenges, I began to forget my blessings. I forgot that I had a God who saved me from the pits. I forgot I had a God who provided every single thing that I quote, end quote “needed”. I forgot that I had a God who promised that all of the very challenges I was counting, have no fighting chance against Him, only against me. “Lest I Forget”.
Today, I came across Colossians 3. Rather than explain why I feel this particular passage addresses my “problem” so beautifully, I want you to take some time just to read it.
This is the Message version (feel free to consult other versions)…
So if you’re serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that’s where the action is. See things from his perspective.
Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your real life—even though invisible to spectators—is with Christ in God. He is your life. When Christ (your real life, remember) shows up again on this earth, you’ll show up, too—the real you, the glorious you. Meanwhile, be content with obscurity, like Christ.
And that means killing off everything connected with that way of death: sexual promiscuity, impurity, lust, doing whatever you feel like whenever you feel like it, and grabbing whatever attracts your fancy. That’s a life shaped by things and feelings instead of by God. It’s because of this kind of thing that God is about to explode in anger. It wasn’t long ago that you were doing all that stuff and not knowing any better. But you know better now, so make sure it’s all gone for good: bad temper, irritability, meanness, profanity, dirty talk.
Don’t lie to one another. You’re done with that old life. It’s like a filthy set of ill-fitting clothes you’ve stripped off and put in the fire. Now you’re dressed in a new wardrobe. Every item of your new way of life is custom-made by the Creator, with his label on it. All the old fashions are now obsolete. Words like Jewish and non-Jewish, religious and irreligious, insider and outsider, uncivilized and uncouth, slave and free, mean nothing. From now on everyone is defined by Christ, everyone is included in Christ.
So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.
Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way.
The NIV reads, “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts…” (v.15a).
I know this battle I am having with the concept of Peace will not be exclusive to this New Year. But you can bet your bottom dollar that I am gearing on up.
If you’re shuffling around; if you’re nearsightedly staring only at what’s in front of you; if your so-called problems overbear your God-given blessings, assuming you’ve shared in Christ’s death and suffering (if you don’t know what that means, study the Bible!), I implore you. I implore you to suit up with me and join me in this battle. The battle of having true and righteous felicity. To have “the peace of Christ reign in [our] hearts”!
