Gold Nugget
Verse 20: “So you may walk in the way of goodness, and keep to the paths of righteousness.”
Commentary
As we continue into
the New Year, let us stay focused on making any necessary changes that we have
come to acknowledge as needing attention. Most New Year’s resolutions are
either to lose weight or quit smoking. Although my focus today is more on
spiritual things, we could easily see the spiritual connections to those top
resolutions. I’m not all that big on New Year’s resolutions as some people may
be. Some Christians even say they are not scriptural and I guess I would have
to agree that it’s not a common biblical practice. Whether we wake up on any
given day and purpose to allow the newness of that day to be an inspiration for
needed change or we start a new week with resolve to make changes, as long as
we find motivation for these changes, all is good. Allowing the newness of a
new year to be a spark for making change is grand enough for me. With most
resolutions comes an almost immediate sense of failure and regress. After
failing to stick to diets or failure to keep from lighting up, we quickly abandon
our hopes of change until the next year. What can be the difference this year?
What can keep us on the right path? Consider today’s “gold nugget”. Earlier
the proverb tells us to seek wisdom and knowledge, “So you may walk in the way of goodness, and keep to the paths of righteousness.”
Although my concerns are spiritual and not of smoking or dieting, the things
that I am more concerned with in my spiritual life can only find change in a
steady diet of the Word of God that brings the wisdom and knowledge that
Proverbs says will keep me on the path. I must be determined to be hungry for
the Word of God this year and let it take care of my spiritual health. This will
overflow into the other areas of my life. Of all the New Year’s resolutions that
you have made, let the old “I’m going to read my bible more” be a priority this
year despite however many times you and I have failed at it before. Refusing to
make reading the bible a resolution because of how many times you have failed
to maintain it is more foolish that avoiding a diet because of how many times
you’ve failed to do that. Just a little reality check for you here; if you will
admit that you don’t read His Word and or worship with the saints as you should
and you have more focus on losing weight this year, what does that say about
what’s truly important to you? Just something to think about…
Prayer
Lord, although losing weight is an important
thing for many and should be done, let us be more concerned about the spiritual
changes we need to make. Help us to be more interested in making our spiritual
life more appealing than making our physical bodies more appealing. Amen
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