Good Morning Everyone, Our theme for this month: “Celebrating is good for us” Our Bible verse for today: “For we are God’s coworkers …” 1 Corinthians 3:9 (CSB) Our thought for today: “Celebrate your involvement.” Yesterday we celebrated the sovereignty of God. We rejoiced in the knowledge that as we move forward into and then through the New Year, God will already be there waiting for us. He will be there with full knowledge of what awaits us, and He will be there with complete power and total control over all things. Today we will celebrate the fact that when we get there and we discover what awaits us, we will have a role in dealing with it. It’s true that God is sovereign, but it’s also true that He doesn’t work in this world, or in our lives, in isolation. He doesn’t work in our lives independent of us but with us and through us. He involves us in the things He allows us to be faced with. But He doesn’t have to. He could do it all by Himself and we could just be puppets on a string dancing to His tune. However, that’s not the way it is. Jeremiah 29:11-13 assures us that God has a plan for each of us that He is in the process of working out in our lives, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord …” But those plans don’t unfold without our involvement and cooperation. Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God has prepared ahead of time for us to do.” Psalm 90:17 reads, Let the favor of the Lord our God be on us; establish for us the work of our hands – establish the work of our hands.” In 2021 God intends to do stuff – big stuff – great stuff – and He intends to do it not only in us, but through us and with us. However, it requires us to get involved and to cooperate with Him. I encourage you to give careful thought to how you plan to approach it the New Year. Will you just wander through your days without purpose or vision, and without really participating and cooperating with God in any meaningful way? Or will you approach it with a determination to make the most of the days, weeks, and months God will grant to you? Benjamin Franklin once posed the challenging question, “Do you value your life? Then value your time, because time is the stuff that life is made of.” Don’t waste your time in 2021 on things that don’t really matter. God wants you to be involved in meaningful things. Your life will be fuller, richer, and much more enjoyable as a result. We’ll think more about this tomorrow. For today, I encourage you to celebrate the fact that God chooses to involve you in what He’s doing in the world all around you. Celebrate your involvement in life. God Bless, Pastor Jim |
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