Endeavoring to obey Jesus’ command to be in, but not of, the world can sometimes be difficult to obey—not in the normal sense of “I really want to do this but I know I shouldn’t.”  Many times the unbelieving men and women in places of power or influence celebrate things that are openly and obviously anti-Christian.  There are other times when perhaps they have a nugget of truth clothed with error.  In such cases, the Christian who wishes to own all of God’s truth must cry to the Lord for wisdom to understand how to follow Him without responding in a pendulum fashion that doesn’t accurately reflect biblical truth.

Thanksgiving and Christmas are surrounded with unique marketing schemes, and the New Year is no different.  It is propagated as a time for change—a time for self-help and self-improvement resolutions.  Many of these are typically very good and honorable goals that the Christian should also be pursuing.  But what separates the goal-setting of Christians from those who are not born again?

The Christian must remember his sin. Reflecting back on the year past naturally lends itself to examining those areas where beneficial and necessary improvement must occur.  Because we have been taught by the Holy Spirit to view life from God’s holy perspective, and the amazing landscape of Calvary, the most painful and hated realities in the Christian’s life are the moral dissimilarities to His Creator and Redeemer.  In order for the Christian to have a true and accurate gauge of what the New Year can be, he absolutely must have a firm grasp on what is most wrong.  Our first prayer should be along the lines of this—“O Lord, show me where I have failed in my personal walk with You, where I have specifically failed in my duties as a father, mother, husband, wife, sibling, employer, employee, and church member. Give me understanding to turn the search light of Holy Scripture on all my ways so that my examination will expose my sinful thoughts, attitudes, and actions.  Show me where I need to mature in all these areas—specifically—so that I may set out concrete goals to conform my thoughts, desires, and actions to Your Word.”

The Christian must embrace a theology of change.  Hebrews 12:11-13Hebrews 12:11-13
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11 Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. ¹² Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; ¹³ And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed. straight: or, even  

WP-Bible plugin says this—“Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.  Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.”  For the Christian, change is fundamentally rooted in an irreconcilable war with sin—it is a mortal, continual, and soul-deep battle that will only pass off the scene of our lives when we pass into glory.  This not only throws us entirely upon God for our strength and victory, but it graciously robs us of the modern American mentality of ease and entitlement—a dire necessity for a mind that embraces a constant endeavoring of hard things.  The Christian ought to delight in a theology of change—a theology that demands and supplies the strength for a continual conforming to the image of Jesus as we war with the sin in our own hearts.  This naturally leads us to embrace, in every area of our lives, a theology of change and betterment as we implement, through the Holy Spirit’s power, the wisdom and holiness of God’s Word into all we do.

The Christian must rejoice that his life is marked by an ever-conquering reality.  Every Christian will immediately own that his worst enemy, as Winston Churchill noted, is the one who wears his own hat.  And yet, though we fight against sin within and the opposition of a worldly system without, the Christian can certainly rejoice that he is more than a conqueror through Christ—and that not only in the world to come but even right now!  This happens on a personal level in every Christian’s life—the Bible promises that the Child of God will be matured and grown into that which God has ordained for him to be (“The LORD will perfect that which concerneth me”—Psalm 138:8Psalm 138:8
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8 The LORD will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O LORD, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands.  

WP-Bible plugin).  The Bible states, in unequivocal terms, that our election secures our sanctification—“For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren” (Romans 8:29Romans 8:29
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29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.  

WP-Bible plugin).  What a comfort this is when we are in the trenches and furnace of personal sanctification!  What a promise we may then plead with God Almighty, Who cannot lie (Numbers 23:19Numbers 23:19
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19 God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?  

WP-Bible plugin)!  And yet there is more—brothers and sisters, we are part of an ever-advancing and conquering reality: the kingdom of Christ! Daniel 2 pictures this for us in the stone that is cut out without hands,  crushes the kingdoms of this world, and fills the whole earth with God’s kingdom!  Isaiah 2:1-5Isaiah 2:1-5
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2 ¹ The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. ² And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD'S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. established: or, prepared ³ And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. ⁴ And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. pruninghooks: or, scythes ⁵ O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the LORD.  

WP-Bible plugin, Isaiah 9:6-7Isaiah 9:6-7
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6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. ⁷ Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.  

WP-Bible plugin, and Matthew 13:24-33Matthew 13:24-33
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24 Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: ²⁵ But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. ²⁶ But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. ²⁷ So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? ²⁸ He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? ²⁹ But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. ³⁰ Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn. ³¹ Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: ³² Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof. ³³ Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened. measures: the word in the Greek is a measure containing about a peck and a half, wanting a little more than a pint  

WP-Bible plugin declare that we are part of unstoppable victory through the proclaiming of the Gospel of sovereign, saving, and sanctifying grace!

Embrace the New Year as a time of change.  Embrace the mile marker to take a new look and make a fresh start.  Only, let it be rooted in a real understanding of your sin and failures, the holy purposes to which God has ordained His Children, and the conquering family and kingdom into which you have been grafted.  Whether that change be in the prayer closet or the gym, do it all with the victorious prayer and promise of 1 Corinthians 15:251 Corinthians 15:25
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25 For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.  

WP-Bible plugin on your lips—“For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.”

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It can be difficult to properly shield our families from the American commercialism that jumps ship over Thanksgiving (also degradingly known as “Turkey Day”) to the stuff-addiction of materialism inside a white-washed religious nod to Christ’s birth.  It’s easy to get sucked in to it—partly because it truly is fun to buy gifts for others.  While we participate in sharing gifts with loved ones, we also must keep a finger on the spiritual pulse of our families.  Practically, and theologically, for Christians, Thanksgiving ought to seamlessly flow into thankfulness for the gracious condescension of Christ to rescue us from the pit and tomb of sin.  In reality, we have to fight for it—we ourselves are men and women of clay.  Here are a few tips that might perhaps help the whole family hold to a thankful spirit throughout the year, perhaps with a jumpstart as we celebrate the Pilgrims faith and our Savior’s birth.

Most fundamentally, don’t forget to saturate your home with Gospel thinking.  This ought to be a constant theme to which you bring your family again and again.  Drive home the basics on a daily basis—we are hell-deserving sinners, natural rebels to God’s holiness, and lovers of self.  God, in Christ, unnecessarily but graciously condescended from heaven’s high glory, voluntarily assumed a true human body and reasonable soul, and was made sin for us while making us in Him the perfect righteousness of God.  Parents—do you honestly and truly bask in this glorious truth?  It is the only lasting foundation of true thankfulness for your children as they mature into adulthood.

Find a missionary who teaches solid biblical, gospel, and Christ-centered evangelism and who also needs support for meeting the physical and mental poverty of impoverished peoples—support them as a family.  Get to know the missionary as a family.  Take time to write letters, learn the needs, and even get pictures.  Get stories and names for your children—have them pray for needy children by name and circumstance.  Wrap gifts and write checks together, and as a family send them to “your missionary”.  Don’t be content to threaten your non-vegetable eating children with the infamous starving Ethiopian child—make that child a reality.  Few things produce a thankful spirit like true concern for others that are far more underprivileged than ourselves.

Serve your local church as a family—look for opportunities to do church cleaning and hospitality (family or church-wide) within the body God has placed you.  True Christian friendship is double pronged—it does “Sunday stuff” and “real life stuff” together.  Family friendships within the church are most rewarding when you worship together and camp out together, when you sing God’s praises and run together.  True friendships lead to hospitality, to a family-wide sense of excitement in preparing to have and serve company.  Parents, as you would lead your family in Christian friendships, also lead your family in volunteering to (literally) adorn the walls of Jerusalem by involving your family in the practical needs of Church cleaning.  You might be amazed at how a volunteering home will cheer a Deacon’s heart, cause the Pastor to praise God for you, and inspire others to seek out and meet the practical needs of the Church—all the while involving their children in an outward-oriented life that places others first and emphasizes the blessings of the man who loves God, His people, and the adorning of the spiritual and physical walls of the Bride Christ sacrificially loved.

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Joy is the inescapable characteristic of the child of God.  From the very outset of biblical revelation, God’s people were supremely joyful and blessed.  There in the garden what times of joy and fellowship must have been Adam and Eve’s portion with God!  With the Fall came the exclusive reason for all sadness—sin.  There entered the root of every selfish passion, proud countenance, and unkind action.  For the Christian, though, the story doesn’t end there.

True thankfulness doesn’t shut it eyes to the harsh realities of living in a sin-cursed world.  The Christian has the most soul-overwhelming reality to confront him in the Gospel of Sovereign Grace—that God in Christ has unnecessarily but graciously condescended to rob the grave of its prize and snatch us again to His everlasting embrace of love.  Does this reality speak to your soul every day?

We owe everything to God as our Maker and Provider.  Our every breath, our physical and mental strength, and our every meal are testimonies that our heavenly Father holds us so kindly in His loving hand.  How we owe Him praise for all these!  Do you?  Do you ask the Lord to open your eyes and show you just how wonderful His provision is in your daily bread?  Our world is but a grain of sand for size in our own galaxy—never mind the universe.  Isn’t it amazing that Almighty God should lovingly think on your needs?

As wonderful a gift as all our provisions are, we will lose a sense of their delight and will not be able to hold them with joy unless we truly face every day in this light—God in Christ has dealt with the root of all our sorrows on the cross.  This makes us truly thankful, because this in itself is matter for eternal praise.  This makes us truly thankful, because we are truly content with this, and all the rest of our outward provisions are but bounty upon bounty.

As we come to Thanksgiving, with all the precious Christian history it evokes in our minds, let us remember that those Pilgrims so many years ago gave thanks without big screen television, iPhones, or Facebook.  Their feast was largely relegated to rugged wooden tables, benches and food—items they had, by God’s help, carved out with their own hands.  And that was enough, because they had life in Christ and the freedom He gives to serve Him and live to the advance His kingdom in its ever-victorious march until the Lord’s coming again.

I wonder—would that be enough for you?  For me?  When it is, we will most accurately show to this world the reality and power of the Psalmist’s words in Psalm 30:11-12Psalm 30:11-12
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11 Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness; ¹² To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever. my glory: that is, my tongue, or, my soul  

WP-Bible plugin:

Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness; To the end that my glory my sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever.

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Strong and valuable leadership is a precious commodity.  As our nation approaches yet another presidential election, much of the spirit of the people seems to be in line with the biblical question of Psalm 4:6Psalm 4:6
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6 There be many that say, Who will shew us any good? LORD, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us.  

WP-Bible plugin—“There be many that say, Who will shew us any good?”  True leadership begins on the personal level of self and family government.  This is why the Bible asks this question in 1 Timothy 3:51 Timothy 3:5
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5  

WP-Bible plugin—“For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?”  Genesis chapters 34 & 35 provide some remarkable examples of what happens when men don’t lead and govern their homes according to the pattern for all true leadership, God’s Word.

Remarkably, the context to this chapter is great spiritual struggle, victory, and deliverance.  God had just wrestled with Jacob, given Jacob the victory, changed his name, and protected him from the hand of Esau.  Surely now Jacob would go on with God!  Praise God, he did, but only because God is faithful and brought Jacob back to remind him of God’s covenant mercy.

Genesis 34 tells the story of Jacob’s only daughter, Dinah, who decided it would be a good idea to “just go out and wander among heathen.”  Such curiosity bespoke a discontentment with her estate as a covenant daughter of Israel.  And she paid a terrible price—the loss of her purity.  Jacob’s sons then decide, through cunning and deceit, to put the men of Schechem at a place of defensive disadvantage by promising Dinah’s hand in marriage to her offender if only they will circumcise themselves.  This promise was, of course, only a setup for wholesale slaughter.  The chapter ends with a bang in verse 29—“And all their wealth, and all their little ones, and their wives, took they captive, and spoiled even all that was in the house.”  The chapter begins with the shame and attempted marriage of Dinah to a heathen, and ends with Jacob’s sons marrying heathen women.  And then, in the very next chapter, Jacob has to purge his home of idols, no doubt much of which was the result of such newly formed marriages.  Bad decisions today can haunt our homes for years to come.

And all of this could have been prevented if Jacob had ordered his home according to the Scriptures.  If Jacob had ordered his home in such a way as to prevent Dinah’s wondering in a heathen place, an action that could have had no good outcome, the tragedy of this chapter could have been prevented.  Did his sons have other huge issues?  Certainly—and in many ways we don’t see the long term fruit of these deep rooted sins dealt with until Joseph’s famous words to his brethren after Jacob’s death.

But so much of this might have been prevented in Jacob had been more in tune with God and his family.  Brothers, this story comes as a valley between two mountain peaks of covenant renewal and re-dedication to the Lord.  Spiritual highs are no prevention against great unfaithfulness unless we improve our mountain tops to a more steady adherence and application of God’s Law to our lives—personally and in our families.  Let us look to the law and the testimonies as precious revelations of God’s wisdom to direct our feet, all the while remembering the rest of Psalm 4:6Psalm 4:6
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6 There be many that say, Who will shew us any good? LORD, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us.  

WP-Bible plugin as indispensable to our efforts—“LORD, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us.”  Praise God for grace, for even after such sad circumstances we find the Lord bringing Jacob back to Bethel, reminding and re-establishing His redemptive pledge of faithfulness to needy and sinful creatures in a fallen world.

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