Thoughts at the end of a Year

Towards the end of the movie "The Green Mile," right before his was going to die, the hero of the story talks about how tired he is, how tired he is of how people treat one another, how tired he is of fighting evil, tired of being alive. His words resonated with me at that moment. I could feel the weight of what he spoke of. Life is tiring. It is a weight at times. We live in a fallen world and yet we often expect things to get better, we somehow think that life will get better. We forget there is an enemy who has not yet been put away. He is defeated but still roams around destroying on borrowed time. We saints of God are the fortunate ones. We know the joy of forgiveness, feel the nearness of heaven, know that the weight of this world is a temporary one and that we share the load with God. Can you imagine the pain that is in this world? There is the pain of carried sin and the guilt that goes with it, the pain of the consequence of bad choices, the pain of the bad choices of others. I thank God that the Holy Spirit is at work still drawing men out of the mire of their pain. I am thankful to be a small part of that work and that I can dedicate myself to that battle. It is nearing the end of the year, a time for new beginnings. As a believer I can be sure of my calling. It is two fold. First, I am to Love the Lord my God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. What an honor that is and what power there is in that Love relationship. The second is that I am to love my neighbor as myself. When I love God it pours out to those I am in contact with. I need to see them saved, I need to love them, I need to minister to them. I need to be that picture of Christ that will make the difference. Who is my neighbor? Anyone I see, anyone I come in contact with, anyone God places in my heart. My neighbor is sometimes nearby and sometimes on the other side of the globe. My neighborhood is anywhere and everywhere there is need. This year I want to dedicate myself afresh to my neighborhood and to my God. I want to be a better neighbor and a better child of my King. As I put together some resolutions for the year (yes, I do that), I want those resolutions to reflect the calling God has given me. I hope you will join me and together we can make a fresh start this New Year.