WELCOME 2021! 

There is something about the arrival of a new year; we often see it as a new beginning. We may even write out a list of resolutions or goals for the new year, an opportunity to begin anew. I wonder where we got the idea that the new year will bring with it the moment we have been waiting to start our change?

Did anything change from 12:59 pm on 12-31-20 to 12:01 am on 1-1-21?

Some appropriate questions to ask ourselves about change might be: “When can I make changes? How do I begin? What about consistency?”

For years a stronghold that I held in my mind in regards to dieting was this: After eating something from the “no, no” list, I would say to myself: “This day is over, it is ruined; it is wrecked. I will start again tomorrow because tomorrow is a new day. I will do better tomorrow – or maybe next week I will begin, or next month.”

Where did I get the idea that one bad or wrong decision must be followed by another–that eating junk food in one moment meant I had to continue eating junk food the rest of the day?   I  kept using this excuse so that I  abdicated my responsibility in changing the direction of my life.

What do I mean?

To continue submitting to my addiction,  I concluded that once a day is ruined by a wrong choice, a dreaded phone call, an argument, etc., the day has lost all purpose and value. I will wait for tomorrow because as Scarlett O’Hara says, “it is a new day,” and everything will be unique and fresh. 

The other day, I heard a speaker clarify a passage in Ecclesiastes. I don’t know about you, but the book of Ecclesiastes is not a book that I have spent a great deal of time studying. Honestly, I have difficulty connecting the dots between understanding and applying what I have read.

Listen to Ecclesiastes 11:3b: “If a tree falls to the south or the north, in the place where the tree falls, there it shall lie.”

I have some experience with falling trees, especially since moving to Yelm. My son, David, is my personal lumberjack. When he prepares to drop a tree, he studies the tree from all angles and considers all possibilities of where that tree may land. He knows at what angle to cut so that the tree will fall precisely where he wants. So what does being a lumberjack have to do with Solomon’s words? It is evident to me that wherever a tree falls, there it will lie.

So what is the application?

Could Solomon be teaching us that whatever condition we find ourselves in at this moment is because we made choices to the right or the left? When I made a decision, did I consider the consequences of that decision? Did I listen to the Spirit warning me that my tree was going to land where I did not want it to drop if I acted on my choice?

I believe that Solomon is giving us this illustration to teach us that we do not have to wait until tomorrow to change the direction of our lives. We can choose in an instant; every moment of every day is new, never experienced. It is up to us to determine what we do with that moment!

Remember Jonathan, King Saul’s son, and David’s closest and dearest friend? Jonathan knew His God; He knew God’s character and His heart. God did not intend for His people to live in bondage, to be terrified by the enemy. So what did Jonathan do? He seized the moment, and in an instant, set victory into motion. (See 1 Samuel 14.)

Yes, Jonathan and his armor-bearer were victorious. The Philistines were defeated while his father, the king, 600 soldiers, and the Lord’s priest, Ahijah, were sleeping under the pomegranate tree.

Jonathan and his armor-bearer were exhausted from battle. They became weak as they traveled through the forest, pursuing the Philistines. What did God do? On the forest floor, they found honey, and after eating God’s provision, they were refreshed, nourished, and inspired to continue their pursuit. 

Earlier, unknown to Jonathan, his father, Saul, had issued a foolish–yes, stupid–command placing his soldiers under oath that no one was to eat all day long until he had full revenge on his enemies (vs. 22-26). His army was exhausted. Did Saul consider the consequences of his command – his ruling? He was more concerned about how he looked to others, how his son, Jonathan, had overshadowed him. He had to save face. He was wearing the religious mask of “Look how holy I am! Look how spiritual I am!” Yes, God had blessed him and the nation of Israel with the victory. But whose victory was it? Saul did not win the victory. It was God’s victory.

Jonathan did not sit on the sidelines and wait for success to happen. No, he made a decision – to move with God. Johnathan seized the moment, realizing its urgency. He moved with the heart of God, the character of God.

At the same time, his father had allowed fear and his lack of knowledge about the heart and character of God to paralyze him. It was easier for him to become defensive and to wear a mask.

How many times I have made precisely the same decision. I have worn many masks in my lifetime. Any of these sound familiar?

Using humor, being the funny person in the room to divert attention away from my insecurities.

Or the need to be just like everyone else often referred to as “keeping up with the Joneses.”

Ever numbed yourself with food, alcohol, drugs, shopping, social media, etc.? I wore this mask often. I became numb to my fears, anxieties, my emotions through food, watching television.

 

And yes, I, too, have worn the religious mask. My focus became what I could do for God, not what God does for me. 

Another disguise that I often wore was the “I’m fine” defense—pretending that everything is just great. That way, no one would know the real Neva.

          I believed I was protecting myself; I was afraid to be vulnerable!

In this new year, I have asked myself this question: Will I be an observer to life, sit on the sidelines and watch others, or will I live life?

To follow Jesus is to move with God, as Jonathan did. To follow Jesus means to seize the divine moment that God places before me, just as Jonathan did.

Learn the value of each day.

Within each day, God-given opportunities are waiting to unfold. Every 24 hours are full of divine moments. From the sidelines, these moments look ordinary, but when I seize them, they become extraordinary. Do not wait to begin a change.

Your moment to start is NOW!