Starting 2018 Wisely

It’s a new year. At this time, we all love to make plans for somehow modifying our lives and doing things better. We plan to exercise more, read better books, eat better food, and all the rest. And while all this is good, I would like to propose to us one simple commitment for the year that carries with it a promise of the blessing of God.

 

Psalm 1

1 Blessed is the man

who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,

nor stands in the way of sinners,

nor sits in the seat of scoffers;

2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord,

and on his law he meditates day and night.

3 He is like a tree

planted by streams of water

that yields its fruit in its season,

and its leaf does not wither.

In all that he does, he prospers.

 

Psalm 1 starts off the worship song book of the Bible with a simple reminder. We are blessed by God when we walk, not in the ways of our naturally evil hearts, but when we instead make our lives and focus center on his holy word. The blessed person is one who delights in the word of God and meditates on it, reading it, studying it, applying it, obeying it.

 

We should be careful not to look at this passage as a do this to get that sort of passage. God has never been like the pagan fertility gods of the world’s false religions. God does not perform for us on a payment system. Rather, the point of the passage is that the one who loves God will love his word and obey it. The one who loves God’s word and obeys it will experience the blessings of God because he or she is a child of God. Loving the word of God is both a symptom of being a true child of god as well as an avenue to the blessings of God.

 

As this new year begins, I would urge us all to love the Lord our god by loving his word. In doing so, we will experience the glory of God and the soul-satisfying blessings he promises. This is good and wise.

 

How then will we love the word of God this year?

 

• Read it – You will not love the word of God if you spend no time in it. Make this a priority.
• Read it with a plan – I like to use a Bible-in-a-year plan. But that is not the only way to read. However, choosing to read a different passage every day, whatever pops into your head at the time, is not wise. That will leave you outside of the context and flow of Scripture. And reading without a plan makes it far easier to skip.
• Read with someone – It would be wise to find a friend or three and see about reading through the same plan or the same book together. This will not only promote accountability, but it will also give you a great topic for conversation as you share convictions and insights together.
• Attend worship – This would be a good year to make worship attendance a higher priority. You need to be with the people of God hearing the word of God faithfully taught. 

 

We could say so much more, but for now, let me simply encourage us to love the Lord by loving his word. This is a way to start 2018 aimed at the blessings of god.