East Baptist Church – Denison, TX

New Years Brings Us to Face the Challenge of Time

1 Corinthians 7:29-31 (NASB77)

I like the new year because it reminds me that God is not only the God of a second chance, but the God of multiple changes. 

I know that today all of us have the blessing of having a whole New Year with blank pages laid out ahead of us. Time is one of, if not, the most precious commodity we have in our lives. How we spend it is so important and once spent we do not get that time back. 

Time is running out. Paul the great Kingdom worker tells us one of the things we often lack in our lives is a time of Urgency.  1 Corinthians 7:29 “But this I say, brethren, the time is short…”

If only I had…… is one of the biggest ways Satan distracts God’s people for putting their time and effort into gaining the things that count in eternity. How much time do we spend in the quicksand of someone else getting what I deserve? 

The words of this same man from the depths of a prison cell not knowing if each day would be his last. Philippians 4:11-13 (NASB77) ¹¹Not that I speak from want; for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. ¹²I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. ¹³I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. 

And praise God this morning we can come to the Lord Jesus Christ and He is the God of new beginning. And whatever the past was, for good or for bad, for gain or for loss, we can put it under the blood of Jesus Christ and move on. Paul put it this way: Philippians 3:13-14 (NASB77) ¹³Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, ¹⁴ I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 

Paul put behind him not only past guilt but also past grudges. He put behind him past glory. He didn’t live in the accomplishments of the past. 

Joshua made a sincere resolution about his service. He stood in the camp of Israel, and he said if you want to choose to serve other gods then choose to serve other gods, “but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”