Fools for Christ?

I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not according to knowledge. Romans 10:2

Did you read about the Christian couple who, having put their house up for sale, took it off the market rather than sell it to a gay couple?

I have to admit that their stance on this made me uncomfortable. Like them, I hold a traditional view of same-sex relations, so I could understand the strength of their conviction. And yet I couldn’t help feeling that they were misguided – that, borrowing the words of Paul in Romans 10:2, while they might be truly “zealous for God”, it was with a zeal “that is not according to knowledge”.

Paul, of course, is talking about something completely different: the position of his fellow-Israelites who haven’t grasped how their ancient prophecies have been fulfilled in Jesus, and how traditional Judaism is thus rendered redundant. He is obviously deeply sad about their failure to see the truth as it is in Christ; though rather than condemning them, he recognises and respects their genuine zeal.

There is such a thing as “zeal that is not according to knowledge”: that’s the simple point today.

I remember myself as a newly-converted Christian, age 15. Boy, did I have zeal! I went back to school and tried to convert everybody in five minutes flat. All right, that’s an exaggeration; but I have no doubt that I caused embarrassment if not worse. Was it honouring to God if I came across, in the eyes of my non-Christian schoolmates, as a weirdo, a religious nutter? Was I in fact responsible for turning somebody off Christianity for life? I can only hope not; but it’s a bit late now.

No doubt there are street preachers who exercise their ministry in a tactful and sensitive way. But I must admit that the ones I have come across have caused me to cringe and hurry by – much like most of the people busy about their shopping, in fact. Was I wrong? Should I have gone and stood with them? Or was I right not to want to identify with them, however genuine their zeal might have been?

There aren’t necessarily cut and dried answers to questions like that, and I do of course keep open the possibility that – well, I’m just a coward. The disturbing words of Jesus about “disowning me before others” (Matthew 10:33) hover over one’s head. But…

A few years ago I was sitting on the top deck of a bus reading a book (of course) when a woman decided to preach to us. Actually, “harangue” would be a better word than preach. You only had to look around to see that her efforts were not appreciated, to put it mildly. Did I hear people muttering angrily “Sit down, sister”?

I mentioned this the following week at a house-group, whereupon an African lady jumped in and said, “That’s how I was converted! – that’s quite normal in my country”. Well, there could be no arguing with that, could there, so my tail was well and truly between my legs. But of course what’s normal and acceptable in one culture may not be normal and acceptable in another, such as on a bus on Alperton High Road, north-west London.

We could never calculate the amount of damage done by misguided zeal. Islamist extremists think they are honouring God by blowing people up. Christian fundamentalists have been known to murder staff who work in an abortion clinic, or scientists who experiment on animals. Elderly, respectable clergy people have recently been blocking roads, even gluing themselves to motorways, in the name of animal rights or climate change.

Going back to that couple trying to sell their house, you can’t help but wonder what they hoped to achieve. Somebody ultimately will buy it; and who knows how deep-died a sinner that somebody might be? Should they demand to investigate the personal morals of every potential buyer?

Isn’t it part of our Christian discipleship to rub shoulders daily with all manner of people – quite likely including non-Christians who put many of us to shame by their way of life? In that light, isn’t a business transaction conducted in an efficient, courteous, helpful manner an infinitely better witness than saying “Sorry, we can’t have dealings with you because we believe your life-style is wrong”?

No-one was more keen than Paul that his converts should live pure and holy lives; but he explicitly spells out that mixing with all sorts is part and parcel of being a Christian – otherwise “you would have to leave this world” (1 Corinthians 5:10), which would obviously be absurd, unless we decide to embark on monasticism.

Not to mention Jesus! One of the very things that the religious authorities condemned him for was his willingness to mix with anyone he came across, tax-collectors, prostitutes, the lot. Yet he never compromised, and he was “without sin” (Hebrews 4:15).

The upshot of it all is simple: we need to recognise that some issues are not black and white but call for serious reflection rather than shallow answers. Yes, of course we want to be loyal to Christ, but how is such loyalty best expressed? True, Paul describes himself and his fellow-apostles as “fools for Christ” (1 Corinthians 4:10). But I very much doubt if he meant the kind of thing that couple exemplified…

Lord, give us the gift of wisdom and discernment!

Father, I am willing to be a fool for Christ. But please teach me the difference between courageous witness for Jesus and foolish, misguided enthusiasm. Amen.

A hesitant hero

Obadiah was a devout believer in the Lord… 1 Kings 18:3

He’s an interesting man is Obadiah.

He’s not to be confused with the prophet of that name, who appears towards the end of the Old Testament. No, he appears here in 1 Kings 18:1-16, in the story of Elijah: just sixteen verses, and we never meet him again. But he has an important part to play.

What do we know about him?

First, he is a true worshipper of God - a “devout believer in the Lord” (verse 3), someone who has “worshipped the Lord since my youth” (verse 12).

Second, somehow he has risen to a high position in society: he is King Ahab’s “palace administrator” (verse 3).

Third, his devotion to God isn’t just words. Under King Ahab and especially his wife Jezebel, people faithful to God have been persecuted; many of Elijah’s fellow-prophets have been killed (verse 4). Obadiah has taken an initiative here, one that could easily have cost him his job and even his life: he has hidden one hundred true prophets in safety, and provided for their needs (verses 4 and 13). He is no armchair believer!

Fourth, he is a man of very natural, human feelings, not least plain fear.

Israel is suffering from a prolonged drought and famine, and King Ahab, much as he detests God’s servant Elijah, knows how much he depends on him. But Elijah is playing hard-to-find, and when Obadiah happens to run into him (verse 7) and is told to report to Ahab that he is on the scene again, he is by no means keen. “What are you trying to do to me?” he asks. “Kill me? I know just what will happen. I’ll tell the king that you’re on your way – and you’ll do another of your disappearing acts. And I’ll end up dead” (that’s the essence of verses 9-14).

If Obadiah is a hero – which I think he is – he’s a not-very-heroic hero!

And it’s just that that makes him, to me at least, an attractive character.

You could say that while Elijah is a bit of a spiritual firebrand – severe, uncompromising, prepared to look even the king right in the eye and tell him what’s what – Obadiah is altogether less high-profile, keeping his head down as much as possible and doing what he can but doing it as discreetly as he can.

The point is that God needs both his firebrands and his – what shall I call them? – his steady-eddies. Elijah dazzles us (though, of course, even he is heading for a spectacular collapse in chapter 19), Obadiah reassures us. But both play a vital part in the unfolding of God’s purposes in hard times.

You might ask what Obadiah was doing working for wicked King Ahab anyway. And the answer might be that he didn’t have a lot of choice; if the king says “Right, I want you as my top administrator” it can’t be easy to say “No, thanks”, can it? (For a New Testament equivalent go to Erastus in Romans 16:23, whom Paul describes as “the city’s director of public works” – there were obviously Christians in high places in those early days. Is this a prompt to us to pray for Christians today in high places? – places, perhaps, like 10 Downing Street…)

I don’t know if the system is quite the same today, but I remember how some years ago in China churches were required to “register” with the authorities if they wanted to be allowed to exist. Some thought this involved an element of compromise, and there were churches that refused to do it. Others felt that in all conscience it was a sacrifice they were prepared to make. Were they traitors?

It seems incredible now, but in Nazi Germany many Christians decided that on balance Hitler was to be welcomed, or at least put up with. Were they traitors? (Don’t let’s say Yes too enthusiastically – it could have been us.)

I was reading yesterday about Richard Wurmbrandt, the Romanian pastor who suffered unspeakable things under communist rule back in the fifties and sixties: intense torture, years of solitary confinement, you name it. A truly wonderful man; I could only admire him. Then I got to know another Romanian pastor, a beautiful Christian man. He spoke very graciously about Wurmbrandt, but he obviously had reservations about certain aspects of his approach. Who was right?

Thank God that we don’t have to do the judging! – indeed, that we are forbidden to. Elijah and Obadiah were, perhaps, chalk and cheese; but both were instruments in God’s hands.

God’s church needs all types of people – outgoing and introspective, confident and withdrawn, brave and hesitant, strong and weak.

Of course, out-and-out error and compromise need to be challenged. But ultimately all that matters is that like Obadiah all of us should be “devout believers in the Lord” - with everything that that implies.

Is that you? Is it me?

Father, thank you for the example of unsung heroes like Obadiah. Please help me to learn from it. Amen.

Beautiful memories?

The memory of the righteous will be a blessing, but the name of the wicked will rot. Proverbs 10:7

Surely the righteous will never be shaken; they will be remembered forever. Psalm 112:6

Have you ever thought that there are things about you today which you owe to someone who has been dead for ten, twenty, perhaps even fifty or more years? Someone said something to you that has stuck in your mind ever since. You saw someone do something – something kind, something brave – and you have never forgotten it. You are a different, a better, person today from what you otherwise would have been – all because of that person.

This doesn’t apply only to individual acts or words of truth and goodness; it also applies to the whole character of that other person, what you might describe as the flavour of their life. When you think of them, what hits you is an overwhelming impression simply of a good person. Over the years, though you may not realise that you have been doing it, you have in fact subconsciously been modelling yourself on them.

“The memory of the righteous will be a blessing”, says Proverbs 10:7. Yes; that pretty well sums this up. It’s a striking and perhaps even a slightly frightening thought that our lives, whether we like it or not, can leave a powerful legacy for future generations.

“By faith he still speaks, though he is dead” says the writer to the Hebrews (11:4) about – guess who? – Abel. It’s hard to think of a person more remote in time than that!

And let’s remember what Jesus said about the woman who extravagantly poured perfume over him at the meal-table: “Why do you bother her? She has done a beautiful thing to me… I tell you the truth, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will be told in memory of her” (Matthew 26:6-13). That prophecy of Jesus is coming true for the millionth time today, even as I write these words and as you read them.

All this raises a very obvious question… What sort of legacy am I leaving? How will I be remembered, if indeed I am remembered at all?

Perhaps you teach a Sunday School class. Have you ever reflected that that little group of children that you meet with for half an hour on a Sunday morning will be soaking up not only your words but also your manner and personality – what I might call the essential “you-ness” of you? Perhaps you run across a neighbour on a regular basis. You don’t really know them personally, but you greet them and try to be a Christlike presence in their lives. Who knows what impact that might have?

I’m sure it goes without saying that we don’t aim to act and speak and live well because we want to be remembered in this way. No: we act and speak and live well because it is simply right to do so – ultimately out of love for God. But the fact that we may – no, that we will - be remembered can be a powerful incentive. And there’s nothing wrong with that.

As often in Proverbs the second line of the verse turns everything round: “The memory of the righteous will be a blessing…” that’s the good news, but then, “the name (that is, the reputation, the memory) of the wicked will rot”. Well, that’s blunt enough.

But it needs to be said, for these things work both ways. If we all remember good, Christlike things from early days, how much more do we remember with a frown and a shake of the head cruelty, spite, jealousy - oh, just take your pick from Paul’s ugly list of the “works of the flesh” (Galatians 5:19-21). If you’re anything like me you will probably shudder to think of some of these things you could be remembered for. Lord, have mercy!

The Message translation of Proverbs 10:7 puts the whole verse like this: “”A good and honest life is a blessed memorial; a wicked life leaves a rotten stench”.

Perhaps it’s time to stop, close our eyes and ask ourselves the question: Yes, what kind of person am I? How will I be remembered? Is my goodness all just outward show?

Loving Father, thank you for the Christlike people who have helped to mould and shape me, probably never even realising what they were doing. Help me, by your grace, to follow in their footsteps. Amen.

Count those buts!

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 2 Corinthians 4:6-9

There are times in Paul’s letters when he rises to positively poetic heights – think, for example, of Philippians 2 or 1 Corinthians 13. And it’s rather like that here.

In 2 Corinthians 4 he is reflecting on the way he and his fellow-apostles go about their ministry. It’s by no means easy, he says. But what a privilege! The calling to proclaim Christ is a “treasure”, but God makes sure it’s well-disguised by putting it in “jars of clay” (that’s how Paul sees himself and his companions) because it would never do for the messengers to outshine the message, would it?

But… it involves suffering. And in a rhythmic description of his own experience Paul spells this out in verses 8 and 9. Four times in these two verses he uses the word “but”, and taken together they add up to a powerful declaration of his determination to proclaim Jesus never mind what…

Hard pressed… but not crushed. Perplexed… but not in despair. Persecuted… but not abandoned. Struck down… but not destroyed. (Isn’t “but” a great little word?)

That’s me! says Paul, that’s the story of my life – just an old clay pot, me. I’m the most insignificant little man you could imagine. I’m not a herald of King Jesus like the royal heralds who proclaim news from the palace, blowing trumpets and all dressed up in fine uniforms. Oh no! I’m a bit of a non-entity really. People laugh at me. My opponents try to injure or even kill me.

But, make no mistake, they won’t be smiling any more when they see lives transformed by the power of this silly little “gospel” I preach. (It’s Paul, by the way, not me, who speaks of the gospel as “foolishness”: 1 Corinthians 1:18.) Paul has this firm conviction that the plain word of God really does change lives.

What I particularly like about his four “buts” is the way they balance hard-headed realism and rock-solid faith.

Hard-pressed… that could be translated “afflicted” or “distressed”, words that relate to all manner of troubles, physical, psychological or spiritual.

… but not crushed! Oh yes, feeling the weight, but not giving way under it.

Perplexed… that could be translated “anxious” or “at a loss”, just not knowing what to think or which way to turn.

… but not in despair! Clinging to the hope and prayer that things will come clear.

Persecuted… that could be translated “hunted” or “chased down” like an animal, and it could very well be meant quite literally, for according to Acts there were indeed times when Paul was hounded from one town to another.

… but not abandoned! Just when I thought I’d been left behind – well, I discovered I hadn’t!

Struck down… that could be translated “cast down” or “prostrated”. That certainly happened in a purely physical sense. But did Paul also have bouts of depression? 2 Corinthians 1:8-9 suggests it.

… but not destroyed! No, I’m still here, and still forging ahead.

Whatever the precise meaning of Paul’s words, the basic thrust is clear: This Christian life is hard! – at times very, very hard, indeed almost too hard to bear. I wonder how bravely we have looked that truth right in the face. How realistically have we digested Jesus’ teaching about “taking up our cross” to follow him?

Two comments are worth adding…

First, while Paul is here reflecting on his own experience as a missionary and evangelist, there need be no doubt that what he says is true of anyone and everyone who is serious about living the Christian life. Hardship is, as they say, part of the package. So we mustn’t say “Ah yes, but that was Paul the apostle; that isn’t for us ordinary Christians”.

(Is this a passage to keep up your sleeve for next time somebody tries to tell you that the Christian life is easy?)

Second, we need to bear in mind that Paul here is looking back on these experiences with the benefit of hindsight: it’s a case of “emotion recollected in tranquillity”, to borrow Wordsworth’s phrase. Oh yes, Paul can see now how God brought him through. But it didn’t seem like that at the time, no, not at all.

When you’re in the thick of a hard time, very likely you can’t see your way through. And that’s when you depend especially on the prayers and support of others – so don’t keep it to yourself!

At the end of this chapter Paul puts all his suffering behind him and expresses his faith: “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal weight of glory that far outweighs them all” (verse 17). I can’t help smiling to see the grim sufferings of verses 8-9 described as “light and momentary troubles”.

But there you are… that’s what faith does for you!

O joy that seekest me though pain,/ I cannot close my heart to thee;/ I trace the rainbow through the rain,/ And feel the promise is not vain/ That morn shall tearless be. George Matheson (1842-1906)

Loving Lord God, give me grace always to trace the rainbow through the rain, to be both unflinchingly realistic and utterly trusting. Amen.

Judgment and mercy for the godless person

Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” “I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?” 

The Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground. Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.”

Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is more than I can bear. Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.”

 But the Lord said to him, “Not so; anyone who kills Cain will suffer vengeance seven times over.” Then the Lord put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him. So Cain went out from the Lord’s presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

Genesis 4:8-16

A member of the British royal family was, yesterday, thrown out into the wilderness. Stripped of his royal and military titles, even disowned by various charities and other bodies for whom he had been a figure-head, he is now, officially, a nobody.

And, I imagine, a very lonely man. He has certainly done wrong, and you might very well say “Well, serve him right”. But I can’t help feeling a bit of pity for him. Privately, I assume, some friends and family will stay loyal to him, but “how are the mighty fallen”.

I found myself thinking of Cain, who murdered his brother Abel and was expelled to “the land of Nod” – “No-man’s land” you might call it – and condemned to a life of rootless wandering (Genesis 4). No excuses for him, of course: he seems to have done what he did with full “malice aforethought”, and we nowhere read that he turned to God in true repentance.

But given that we are all sinners with dark secrets, perhaps we can find a place in our hearts as we look at him – and also at our lonely ex-prince.

The story suggests that Cain was given both judgment and mercy.

First, judgment.

God says, “You will be a restless wanderer on the earth”. No fixed home; no supportive community; no smiling faces to lift his heart; no friends.

I met a man once who had been given a hut with basic facilities in a larger community of primitive dwellings. The people didn’t want him, but presumably felt they ought to do something for him, so there he was for a time at least, living his solitary life. I suspect he would often go whole days without speaking to a soul. A man sad beyond words.

It’s the mark of a person who refuses to turn their back on sin that they exist in a constant state of inner restlessness. Whatever dark secrets they have stir up feelings of guilt and shame, for the human conscience can be a hard taskmaster, quite likely disturbing our sleep and robbing us of any lasting peace.

Yet God wants the people he has made to know and enjoy peace. Even amid all the troubles of our world there is nothing to compare with the peace of sins confessed and forgiven, and to know that we are reconciled with God himself. Jesus said to his disciples, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you”. True, that heavenly peace will never be complete until we see Jesus face to face. But nonetheless it is for all, right here and now, who are humbly and truly sorry and seeking by God’s grace to be the person he wants us to be.

Do you yet know anything of that peace; or are you still wandering around in the spiritual Land of Nod?

Second, mercy.

Even though we never read of Cain repenting, we do read of God being kind to him.

Cain protests against God’s judgment: “My punishment is more than I can bear… I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me”. But God contradicts him: “Not so; anyone who kills Cain will suffer vengeance seven times over”. And then, intriguingly, “the Lord put a mark on Cain so that no-one who found him would kill him”.

What was this mysterious “mark of Cain”? Answer: we don’t know. How did other people recognise it for what it was? Answer: we don’t know. But those questions are beside the point. What matters is that God listened to Cain’s complaint and showed him mercy. Whatever the mark was, it was a safe conduct, not a stigma, as one commentator neatly puts it. It teaches us that God is always ready to reach out with mercy, even to those who are yet to repent of their sin. What does the apostle Peter tell us? – “God does not want anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). And everyone means – well, everyone!

There are other signs of hope to come. As we read on through Genesis 4 we discover that Cain fathered a family (how did he find a wife!?) and built a city (verses 17-18). Perhaps not such a total wanderer as we have been led to expect! Whatever is hidden behind those bare facts, we can surely draw the conclusion that as long as a human being is still alive on the face of the earth the love of God is there for them if only they will grasp hold of it.

I do hope our wretched prince is aware of that fact – and that you and I are too!

“Our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you”. Father, we listen again to the promise of Jesus: “Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest”. Thank you, Lord. Amen.

Whoever has ears to hear...

To answer before listening – that is folly and shame. Proverbs 18:13

A kind person once said to me, “I want to thank you for being such a good listener”.

Well, any compliments gratefully received, of course. But if ever a compliment was undeserved, this was it. What my friend didn’t know was that the main reason I listened was because I couldn’t think of anything to say. Behind that calm, sympathetic exterior my brain was probably working overtime, “How on earth do I respond to this person’s need?”

We ministers are expected to have answers to people’s problems. But of course that isn’t always the case, not by any means! And surely in general it’s a good principle… if you haven’t got anything to say, well, don’t say anything.

The point Proverbs 18:13 is making is simple enough: cultivate the art of listening because it’s both a wise and a polite thing to do.

I had an interview once with a bank employee – we needed to talk about a mortgage or something. As I explained my query I could see her eyes glancing down at the papers on her desk. She kept murmuring “Mmm”, “Yes, I see”, “Of course”, but I could tell she wasn’t actually listening to me, not in the sense of giving me her full attention. And I imagine we all know the experience of talking to someone in a roomful of people, and you can see their eyes looking over your shoulder, obviously more interested in what’s going on behind you than in what you are saying.

I’m sure I’m as guilty in this area as anyone, so this simple Bible verse is for me as much anybody else. To give someone your undivided attention, to focus seriously on what they are saying, not butting in or coming up with some shallow remark or solution, is enormously important. At the lowest level it’s just plain good manners. But it’s also a way of saying, “You matter to me. I see you as a person, a fellow human being, not just a shape filling a bit of space in my life”. And that can be massively important especially for someone with little self-confidence.

Why do we find listening so difficult? No doubt there are various reasons. Here, in no particular order, are some that spring to mind…

First, we are just too plain busy – we don’t have the time to stop and listen. But, make no mistake, we would happily find the time if the other person was someone we valued.

Second, we are so full of ourselves that the only opinion that matters is mine; we don’t mean to ignore that other person, but subconsciously we have already dismissed them.

Third, what if what we heard were to challenge some long-held view or prejudice? Are we too lazy to do some serious thinking and perhaps adjust our views accordingly?

This is particularly a danger in our modern shouty, over-heated atmosphere. You think of people who demand that someone with “unacceptable” views should be “no-platformed”, never mind that those views haven’t actually been listened to. Or of the messages - hate-filled, obscene, perhaps - that get posted online because someone has decided to take offence at an opinion they have never seriously considered. This kind of mentality is truly a curse of modern life. God help us never to get sucked into it!

Fourth, we are afraid the other person might make some kind of demand of us. If we take seriously what they say we might feel under an obligation to do something, and that might disrupt our comfortable life.

Fifth (let’s be totally honest), that other person is just so boring. Well, all right, there may not be much sparkle to their conversation – but can you imagine Jesus stifling a yawn and turning away from some poor soul who rattled on a bit?

Perhaps these reasons for being a bad listener come under that word “shame” in Proverbs 18:13, shame in the sense of “insult” or “bad manners”.

But the writer tells us also that failing to listen is a “folly”. In other words, we don’t do ourselves any favours by it. I suspect that all of us have said to ourselves from time to time “If only I had listened to what so-and-so said! – it might have saved me from a big mistake.” It’s no accident that Jesus gave us his take on this whole question (albeit in a slightly different context): “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear” (Matthew 11:15).

Proverbs 18 has quite a bit to say about words. In verse 2 the writer has already expressed much the same thought: “Fools find no pleasure in understanding, but delight in airing their own opinion”. Ouch! Does that make me – or even you, perhaps – a fool?

A memory comes back to me from a Sunday School teacher many years ago: “It’s no accident that God has given us two ears and only one mouth…”

Oh Lord, help me to be a truly good listener! Amen.

One day at a time, Lord Jesus

Jesus said, Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:34

So – have you broken any of your new year resolutions yet?

What a cynical question to ask! After all, I’m writing this on New Year’s Day! But let’s be realistic, we don’t need long to slip up, do we?

At risk of seeming smug and boasty I can honestly say I haven’t. Mind you, since I didn’t make any resolutions in the first place, that’s no great achievement, is it? To be honest, it’s just not something I do.

Good for you if you find it a helpful practice, but personally it seems a bit pointless. Given that that slip-up is bound to come, it seems to me that the person who makes new year resolutions is setting him or her self up for a fall (or, as an old friend used to say, “cruising for a bruising”). The first time that happens it may not seem to matter – “Oh, that was just a lapse!” – but it’s not long before a one-off lapse turns into a trend. And that can only lead to discouragement and a sense of failure.

Actually, I think I can find a better reason than that. The Bible assumes that the Christian life should be lived day by day, even hour by hour. If we want to make resolutions, let’s make them now, and for now, and leave the more distant future exactly where it belongs: in the future. Christian, grab hold of the moment!

In Matthew 6:25-34 Jesus applied this principle to worry: “Don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself”. But surely it applies right across the board, and especially to the matter of living a Christ-like life: a life of child-like trust and determined obedience. There was a song some years ago with the line “One day at a time, sweet Jesus, one day at a time”, which sums it up very well.

I don’t deny that there can be problem with my attitude; very simply, I may end up never bothering to make resolutions at all, but just coast along lazily without thinking, just going with the flow. And if I do that, it can only mean that in truth I’m not really that serious about my relationship with God. In which case it’s time for a bit of serious self-examination. Am I, in practical terms, a Christian at all?

But if I can form the habit of “keeping short accounts with God”, as someone has described it, then that means I’m marching in time with God’s rhythm, for he himself, though he dwells in eternity, is a day-by-day, minute-by-minute God. One of the Bible’s most beautiful verses is Lamentations 3:23: “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness…”

Yes, God is faithful to his children on a morning-by-morning, even a moment-by-moment, basis – and he invites us to be faithful and obedient to him in exactly the same way.

Paul’s way of putting this is especially helpful: “…live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh”. The particular word he uses for “live” conveys the idea of walking: “…walk by the Spirit”, or, even better, “Keep in step with the Spirit” (Galatians 5:16). The Bible as a whole loves this image of the Christian life as a walk; it takes us right back to Enoch (Genesis 5:21-14), of whom it is said twice that he “walked with God”. Could that be said of you and me?

God’s grace is not a commodity you can store up for a rainy day; it’s a gift to be drawn on now, because the Holy Spirit has taken up permanent residence in our hearts.

Focus for a moment on that little word “now”. We need to keep in mind that the only fragment of time which we actually possess or have any control over is… now. After all, as I write this, and as you read it, the past is only a memory and the future only a – well, what? a hope? a fear? a mystery? an anxiety? an unknown? Perhaps all of those things.

But for God even the future is now. And whatever it may turn out to be, we know that our heavenly Father is in control. As the saying goes, “I don’t know what the future holds, but I do know who holds the future”.

Some witty person declared that the only new year resolution they were making was to give up making new year resolutions. Very funny.

But by doing just that you might rid your life of a lot of stress – as long, of course, as you replace it with keeping in lock-step with the Spirit, and learning to enjoy God and his love. That, be in no doubt, is what he wants for you.

Happy 2022!

Dear Father, I don’t find it too difficult to say the right things, even to have the right intentions. But carrying out those intentions is often a different matter. O Lord, I am so weak! Please help me to put my hand in yours day by day, and to walk with you, a child with their father. Amen.