Happy New Year!!

It’s that time of the year when we are called to stop and take stock of where we are and if it is truly where we want to be.  The TV news shows are full of help for those of us who annually resolve to eat better and exercise more.  But I’m not so sure there is help out there for those of you who might be resolving to take your commitment to working out your discipleship to Jesus Christ more seriously this year.   As the new officers were installed this month, we all promised, again, “to be Christ’s faithful disciple, obeying his word and showing his love.”  Just how did you plan to do that?

The pressures of our modern world have reduced the obligation most of us feel to fulfill many of the rituals that would have been the hallmark of a Christian life just a generation or two ago. Families rarely manage to sit down together for meals anymore, let alone setting aside time for family prayer.  Not many of you seem to be telling Bible stories to your children.  Not many of us begin every day by reading the Bible.  Hardly anyone quotes scripture as a part of normal, daily conversation. Hardly any of us can manage to tithe any more.  Not many of us are even faithful about making church attendance a priority for each and every week.  I’m really sorry to mention this, but that is not merely a good suggestion. The Commandment says, “Remember that Sabbath day and keep it holy!” (Exodus 20:8).  One day in seven, all day.  It’s good for you.  It’s good for your family.  It’s good for everyone around you.

The rituals that used to help us recognize the sacredness of life and notice the presence of God in the everyday events around us have been relegated to holidays only, or have been completely abandoned.  We worship on Sundays, when it is convenient.  We pray at Thanksgiving, but not at other meals.  We give to the needy at Christmas, but not out of every pay check.  We care about justice, but we don’t have time to do anything to support a cause.  We talk about forgiveness, but rarely offer it.

So, what kind of rituals would be possible for you and your family?  What would it take to remind you every day that you belong to the Lord Jesus first and foremost; and that you intend to follow Christ as a priority this year?

May I suggest that the first thing is to add prayer to your morning routine every day?  It’s easy to just avoid thinking about spiritual issues during the week; to believe it’s more important to get the news or the stock quotes before you get to work. Stop!  Make a new priority.  If you need a prompt, find one of those devotional books and read a page before you get started every morning.  Find a book that touches you and keep it next to the coffee pot.  It will put your relationship to God right up there with brushing your teeth as an absolute requirement before you can face the day.  If whatever you have been using doesn’t do that for you, find something else.  Ask me for some suggestions.  You have to do it every day until it becomes a habit.  If you discover that you have forgotten one morning, stop and do it right then.  Five minutes will remind you of your good intentions for that day—and for the year.  Five minutes can fill your consciousness with the love of God that will last all day.  It might even prompt you to take up some of those other rituals.  That would be good for you, too…..

                                                                     - Diane