Kingdom Ready

A new year and a new decade has just begun today. Many people use this time of year to reflect upon the past year and set their New Year’s resolutions or goals of things that they would like to change for the coming year. Many of those resolutions are quickly broken by the end of the day.

As Christians, we should be continually reflecting upon our lives and “cleaning house” so to speak. We need to sweep away the bad habits that slowly and insidiously creep into our lives that are not holy or pleasing to our God. Some sin becomes such a habit, that it sets itself up as a stronghold in our lives. We become a slave to this habitual sin and we feel oppressed. We feel we cannot escape it. This sin becomes a false god in our lives.

Let me give you an example. Food. How many Americans will set the goal to lose weight in the following year? How many commercials will you see that advertise the latest weight loss program or exercise equipment that promises flat abs? Food can easily become our idol that we worship. We become obsessed about what we will eat; we subscribe to cooking magazines; buy endless recipe books; spend hours shopping and preparing it; and then run to this food when we feel stressed, need comfort, a reward, or just as a release from boredom. Food becomes our friend, our god.

Isaiah 30:22 speaks of these false gods and the decision to rid them from our lives. It is written, “and you will defile your graven images, overlaid with silver, and your molten images plated with gold. You will scatter them as an impure thing; and say to them, “Be gone!”

Whatever our false god is, whether it be food, or something else, like money, addiction to computers, gossip, pornography, exercise, material objects, our kids, our career, our education/knowledge (anything that takes the place of our one and only living God can become an idol), the new year that is dawning is an awesome opportunity to acknowledge this sin and bondage in our lives and speak to it and proclaim, “Be gone!”

When we rid our lives of this worship of a false god, it comes with a promise, found in the following verse, Isaiah 30:23, “THEN, He will give you rain for the seed which you will sow in the ground and bread from the yield of the ground and it will be rich and plenteous; on that day your livestock will graze in a roomy pasture.” And the promise is the same in the New Testament: “Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food, will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness.” 2 Corinthians 9:10.

I believe that God is saying when we seek Him first, and put nothing else before Him in our lives, He will bless our efforts and supply our needs in all things. He will bless the seed we are planting when we share the Gospel of the Kingdom with others and we will bear fruit. Jesus reemphasizes this in Matthew 6:33, when he says, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.” It is a promise that is linked to our obedience. Saying “Be gone!” to our false gods is a decision of “no more!” No more will I set up a false god in my life.

And this is just the first step. What follows is a transformation process, that will take work and effort on our part. In Romans 12:2, Paul tells us, “Do not be conformed to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” It is a time when we must focus on the Spirit-breathed words of God that will renew our minds and replace our old thoughts and old ways of thinking, with new ones that are truth and spirit. Paul continues with this topic, in 2 Corinthians 10:5 when he writes, “We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.”

A new year is a great time to clean house within our minds, and get rid of any thought that does not line up with the Scriptures. It happens, one thought at a time. Depending on the grip that a sin may have you in, the battle ahead may be grueling and you may wonder if you can overcome it. But where does our help come from? Isaiah 31:1 says, “Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, and rely on horses and trust in chariots because they are many, and in horsemen because they are very strong, but they do not look to the Holy One of Israel, nor seek the LORD.” Whatever it is, God will make a way for you and if we seek HIM, we will overcome, through Jesus Christ. Jesus promises to those who overcome that they: “shall not be hurt by the second death” and “I will not erase his name from the book of life.” Rev. 2:11; 3:5 Being overcomers is directly linked to the promise of eternal life in the Kingdom of God in the age to come.
I love a new year, and I love a new day. It is another opportunity to live obediently to my Lord Messiah Jesus and do what he says. “The LORD’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Thy faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22-23.

“Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold new things have come.” 2 Corinthians 5:17.

Let us say “Be Gone!” to our old ways and welcome in the new year as new creations in Christ Jesus with a new zest for living obedient, holy lives to our God, and to His Son, Jesus.
Happy New Year!