With A New Year, New Attitudes!

Two thoughts as we begin a new year... Thought #1 From Luke 9:23, "And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me." When missionary Dr. David Livingstone was working in Africa, a group of friends wrote him the following letter: "We would like to send other men to you. Have you found a good road into your area yet?" Dr. Livingstone sent this message in reply: "If you have men who will only come if they know there is a good road, I don't want them. I want men who will come if there is no road at all." There’s a major difference between simply being interested in doing something and actually making a commitment to doing it! Being interested allows us the freedom to do a certain thing only when our circumstances permit it. But making a commitment to do that thing means accepting no excuses and no reservations within ourselves; it means putting our fears and reservations aside, moving forward till we see the end result! Dr. Livingstone was looking for results, and this required men of commitment! With 2013 now under way, let’s make some true, unselfish commitments! Our Lord, our families, our jobs and our congregations are looking to us! Thought #2 From 2 Corinthians 3:6, "Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life." The English architect Sir Christopher Wren, 1632-1723, was supervising the construction of a St. Paul's cathedral in London. A journalist thought it would be interesting to interview some of the workers, so he chose three and asked them this question, "What are you doing?" The first replied, "I'm cutting stone for a shabby 10 shillings a day." The next answered, "I'm putting in 13 hard hours a day on this job." But the last said, "I'm helping Sir Christopher Wren construct one of London's greatest cathedrals." Whether you realize it or not, as God's Church we too are building something. We who believe and are continually obedient are building up God's Kingdom, the richest and greatest Kingdom this world will ever see! In light of this New Year, 2013, let's examine ourselves and see if we need to make some changes in our perspective. We have the privilege of partaking in something amazing — and better yet, as we build up ourselves and others, doing it all for the King of Kings! Let's resolve to give our will and our mind and therefore our life back to the Lord today and focus on doing great things for the Kingdom this coming year! God bless until our next time...