With the beginning of a new year, my mind always races at the possibilities that it can hold. What great adventures will be had within these next twelve months? What goals will be reached? What difficulty will come? How will this year be any different than the last?
Perhaps that final question somehow rests within the motivation behind “New Year’s Resolutions.” We are, in some way or another, dissatisfied with something from the past year. Therefore, we determine to make that one thing a bit better in the upcoming year. So, we resolve…to lose weight, to stop drinking, to start saving, to get out of debt, etc. Because we want something new, something different, a clean slate upon which we can create a new canvas of potential and opportunity.
With the beginning of each new year, I tend to avoid resolutions and instead ask God to give me a word, something that will serve as a bit of a plumb line, if you will, for everything I do that year and everything I seek to accomplish. The “word” essentially serves as a focal point. One year, my word was “harvest,” and I sensed that the Lord was asking me to focus on sowing the seed of His Word and harvesting the fruit from it. What a year that was! I still look back on that year and celebrate all that God did. He was and is so faithful!
This year, God is causing me to settle into something new, a bit different, and it all stems from Psalm 40:9. I love how it reads in the NIV:
“I proclaim your saving acts in the great assembly; I do not seal my lips, Lord, as you know.”
To proclaim requires a bit of volume and a refusal to hold back or soften the delivery. Do you know what I mean? When you’re excited and ready to explode with thrill, do you whisper or do you squeal and shout?
Here’s the thing. You and I, if we are in Christ, have been entrusted with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Good News of salvation, and we’ve been required to share it (see Matthew 28:19-20). If we have it, why on earth would we not proclaim it? Why on earth would we not shout it from the rooftops? Why on earth would our lips be sealed?
Fear.
Doubt.
Uncertainty.
Insecurity.
Lack of knowledge.
Faithlessness.
The list could go on and on, but I’ll stop there. Never has there been a time in my life when I have seen the need for Jesus Christ in this world more than right now. Our world is literally dying for hope, falling apart at the seams. This world is desperate for truth, so much so that we are scarfing up whatever is thrown at us and calling it truth because that is easier than doing the hard work for ourselves.
And all it takes is the body of Christ, His church, followers of Jesus to start proclaiming His salvation. That’s it. It’s what we were placed on planet earth to do. And how do we tell of His salvation? Why not start with telling your story of your salvation? Take a look back over the years of your life and remember and rehearse His goodness and faithfulness to you. Then, proclaim it. Tell it to anyone who will listen. Don’t allow your lips to be sealed for one more day.
Today is a new day, a clean slate, a fresh start. Fill it with His Good News.
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