Colossians 3:16–17
AN OLD YEAR HAS COMPLETED ITS COURSE. A new year is smiling at us, with twelve months of the unknown. I feel like we’re sitting on the beach, an entire ocean of possibilities, including both sun-drenched days and a few storms with howling winds and giant waves, stretched out across the uncharted waters. If you and I let ourselves, we could become so afraid of the potential dangers that we would miss the adventure.
Becoming a couch potato is an option. You’d look toward the horizon, entertain a few thoughts that start with “Someday . . .” but then lean back and just keep looking and longing. Hawaii would never have been discovered had everyone chosen to sit tight and stay with a sure thing.
Sandwiched between January 1 and December 31 are twelve exciting yet unlived months of opportunities. Challenges brought on by changes await us. We will be shoved out of our comfort zones and required to respond. We can do so positively or negatively, with optimism or with pessimism. Even the familiar beach we have gotten used to is in for some changes, forcing us to leave our “spot” and accept new surroundings. If you’re not careful, you’ll be so preoccupied with complaining, you’ll miss your golden moment to grow a little . . . to make some new discoveries . . . to switch from being a passive sitter on the beach to becoming an active participant in the adventure beyond the familiar.
Let this truth be your formula for launching into a New Year tomorrow:
Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.
COLOSSIANS 3:16–17
How’s that for a game plan for your life this coming year? It’s all there—your mission? The message of Christ. Your ministry? Encouraging others. Your mind-set? Thankfulness. Your motive? Serving Jesus and bringing glory to God the Father.
Go strong in grace and gratitude.
Has God worked in your life in a significant way through Chuck Swindoll and the ministry of Insight for Living? Whatever your story, we’d love for you to tell it to us! Psalm 9:11 tells us to “declare among the peoples His deeds” so others can be encouraged. Submit your story.
Devotional content taken from Good Morning, Lord . . . Can We Talk? by Charles R. Swindoll. Copyright © 2018. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, a division of Tyndale House Ministries. All rights reserved. The full devotional can be purchased from Insight for Living UK or tyndale.com.
