The Message of Reconciliation

2 Corinthians 5: 16-19

How many of us make New Year’s resolutions?  How many of us make resolutions all year long?

“Okay, Monday I’m going to start eating better.  Or, tomorrow I’m going to get up early and exercise.”

We all tend to set goals, whether they be big or small, that often don’t make it past a few days and then we end up starting all over again.

“I mean it this time!  It’ll be different now, I swear!”

I do this a lot and not just with diet and exercise.  I do it with relationships, devotional time, educational goals and career objectives.

So why don’t my goals “stick?”  Why am I not transformed from old to new??

In all the times I’ve attempted to better myself or try something new, I’ve never really acknowledged the message of reconciliation.  I’ve beaten myself up.  I’ve tried on my own and hindered my progress.

Maybe it wasn’t that I failed to reach my goals, but I missed the mark in recognizing God’s necessary contributions to my success.

It comes down to reconciliation.  “God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them” (v.19).  He gave the world a new start through forgiveness.

I normally don’t turn to Wikipedia in my devotions, but when I searched reconciliation, this is what I found…  Reconciliation is the end of the estrangement, caused by original sin, between God and humanity. Evangelical theologian Philip Ryken describes reconciliation in this way; "It is part of the message of Salvation that brings us back together with God... God is the author, Christ is the agent and we are the ambassadors of reconciliation.

Reconciliation is key.  It’s where we get the strength, the determination, the drive to acknowledge and carry out His plans for us.  It is through reconciliation that we are transformed and brought back into relationship with God.  We are human and will continue to sin, but we worship a God who loves us and wants to make us new each day and will continue to transform us, as long as we let Him.

Father, I need you.  I don’t want to be estranged from you because it’s through our relationship that I’m able to accomplish what you have planned.  Save me from myself and make me new each day.  Amen

What Can You Do?

New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, a time to get together with friends and celebrate the coming of the next 12 months. Maybe have a drink or two.

It is also a time to listen to sports analysts telling us which teams will win the big game and which teams will suffer destruction.

And of course, it is a time to actually watch the big game.

 New Year’s is also a time for renewal; a time for resolution. A time to lose some weight. A time to join an exercise club. A time to change a habit.

 Today’s reading is Zephaniah 1:1-3. Zephaniah, a prophet living about 620 BC during the reign of King Josiah, warns Judah of its coming ruin for not following the Lord and his laws and commandments..

 Zephaniah’s prophecy was for those living in Judah at the time, but it also is for us.

 Those who are not believers will suffer eternal punishment. They will be destroyed, just like creation, on Judgment Day. As Zephaniah says, “The wicked will have only heaps of rubble when I cut off man from the face of the earth.”

Those who are believers will also be cut off from the face of the earth, but they will have a better place. Believers will be ushered off to Heaven!

Zephaniah is a bit like the sports analysts that tell us who is going to win the big game. The sports analysts are often times wrong. On the other hand, Zephaniah is 100% correct. Destruction is coming.

 The Israelites were to follow God’s Law. We, followers of Jesus, are to grow his Kingdom. Growing his Kingdom is the only way to bring non-believers to faith, saving them from eternal destruction.

 We are to share the Gospel, we are to care and love others and we are to help others in faith to grow their faith.

 Many of us will make resolutions for the coming year and that is good. Let’s also remember to make a resolution for God.

 What can you do in 2016 to help grow the Kingdom of God?

 Happy New Year!