By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector
As January gets into full swing, people are excited about a new year and new opportunities. No doubt Tennessee Baptists are among the millions who made “resolutions” for the new year, ranging from losing weight to reading your Bible daily to countless other things that individuals deem important.
Hopefully, those who made resolutions will be able to keep them. I don’t make many resolutions anymore. I have a standard resolution that my doctor keeps before me every time I go visit him — lose weight. Haven’t been very successful on that one so I decided to limit my resolutions until I can meet the one I most need to meet.
During worship service on Jan. 1 at Tulip Grove Baptist Church in Old Hickory, Gerald Bontrager offered a novel idea. Instead of making resolutions, follow Scripture. Pastor Gerald provided a “spiritual reference guide for living out the gospel” in 2017.
Lonnie Wilkey
Taking his message from I Thessalonians 5:12-22, he offered several pointers based on Scripture that will help Christians (and anyone for that matter) live a more productive life during the coming year.
Among them:
- Value and respect your spiritual leaders (vv. 12-13b).
- Encourage the fainthearted (v. 14b)
- Help the weak (v. 14c)
- Be patient with everyone (v. 14d). He actually started meddling here. That’s hard for most of us to do, especially me, but it is something we should strive for.
- Do good to everyone (v. 15a). In other words, let’s treat people the way we would like to be treated. Some people refer to that as “the Golden Rule.”
- Rejoice always (v. 16). Some people may find it hard to rejoice when they’re complaining all the time.
- Pray without ceasing (v. 17). Again, this is something most of us don’t do. Too many of us pray “when we want something” from God. We don’t take time to pray and listen to Him.
- Give thanks to God in everything (v. 18).
- Don’t quench the Spirit (v. 19).
- Abstain from all evil (v. 22).
There were some others, but these pretty much cover the ones that most Christians have difficulty with at times. If we listened to the Apostle Paul, we wouldn’t need resolutions.
Pastor Gerald’s message was a timely reminder of how God wants us to live our lives all the time, not just in 2017. Think of how different our world would be if we heeded God’s Word and did “good to everyone” and prayed “without ceasing.”
Just think of what Tennessee Baptists could do if every Christian took seriously the message of I Thessalonians 5:12-22. Our churches would be hard pressed to find space for everyone who attended and invited lost family members and friends to church. We would come much closer to the convention goal of seeing 50,000 people saved, baptized and set on the road to discipleship by 2024 than we are now.
Our churches would be making a huge difference in the communities where they are located. We would see more churches revitalized and more churches started (two more of Tennessee Baptists’ goals to accomplish by 2024) in order to reach the estimated three million people in Tennessee who do not have a relationship with Jesus Christ.
Sound like a crazy, unrealistic goal? Not if we obey Scripture and allow the Lord Jesus Christ to rule and guide our lives.
In 2017 forget the resolutions and follow God’s Word. You might be amazed at what the Lord will accomplish through you this year.
