On the night of His betrayal, the Lord observed the Passover with His twelve apostles.  Each of the four gospels refers to the events of that evening, but John gives us the most complete account of what transpired between the Lord and these chosen men.  No other gospel account contains this information.  In John 13-16 we have a detailed record of the Lord washing the apostles’ feet, dismissing Judas to complete his treachery, and His final instructions and exhortations to the eleven remaining men.  Then, in chapter 17 John recorded the words of the Lord’s prayer which concluded their time together in the upper room.

Near the end of this prayer the Lord said, “I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me” (Jn. 17:20-21).  This plea for the unity of all believers has long been a rallying point in churches that identify with the Christian faith.  However, like so many things the Lord said, this plea has been used in ways the Lord never intended.

For example, many who call for the unity of all believers, do so based on emphasizing the areas of agreement among the various churches, while de-emphasizing areas of disagreement.  The net effect is that areas of disagreement are rendered unimportant.  In this way churches with differing doctrinal beliefs can still claim unity with their religious neighbors.  From a human perspective this seems to make perfect sense.  Unfortunately, it entirely misses the point of what the Lord said.

In the context of Jn. 17 the Lord’s plea for unity was based upon the unity that exists between Himself and His Father in heaven.  His plea was that His disciples would be one with Himself and the Father, just as He and the Father are with each other.  This is a particular kind of unity that is far different from what many call unity today.  While we may not be able to fully comprehend the unity of the Father and the Son, we can be certain of what it is not.  It is not based upon them emphasizing their areas of agreement, while de-emphasizing their areas of disagreement.  This is because there are no areas of disagreement between the Father and the Son.

In Jn. 12:48 the Lord said that His word will judge at the last day.  However, He went on to say, “For I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a command as to what to say and what to speak.  I know that His commandment is eternal life; therefore the things I speak, I speak just as the Father has told Me” (Jn. 12:49-50).  This means that everything the Lord spoke is exactly what the Father told Him to speak.  They are one, because they both speak the same thing.

This fact cannot be overemphasized.  The unity of the Father and the Son is based upon compliance with the Father’s will.  Even as a full-fledged member of the godhead, Jesus did not go His own way.  He bowed to the Father’s wises in everything He did.  If we today wish to experience this unity, we also must comply with the Father’s will.  In Eph. 4:3 Paul exhorted the Christians in Ephesus “to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace”.  The unity of which he spoke is the unity that comes to us when we obey the gospel and the Father adds us to His kingdom.  We preserve this unity by being of the same mind and judgment on matters of faith, as Paul said in 1 Cor. 1:10.  We can only be of the same mind and judgment, however, if we bow to the Father’s will in everything we do.  If we humbly submit to the Father’s will, then we will all be one, just as the Lord prayed.

As Moses prepared Israel to enter the promised land, he wrote a book called Deuteronomy in which he reviewed their history up to that time.  He also recounted the law that God had delivered to him on Sinai.  Amid the details of this law Moses included a summary statement of what Israel must do to please God.  In Deut. 10:12-13 he said, “Now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require from you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all our soul, and to keep the Lord’s commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today for your good?”

As we consider this statement we see that God required four things of His people.  First, He required that they fear Him.  In this case, fear means to revere and to respect.  This is an attitude of submission to higher authority.  If Israel feared God, they would subjugate their will to His will.  Even the Son of God practiced this kind of submission.  In the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus prayed, “yet, not as I will, but as You will” (Mt. 26:39).  If we fear God today, we will do no less than the Son of God did in this regard.

Second, God required Israel to walk in all His ways and to love Him.  This denotes a way of life that is governed by God’s will.  Walking in God’s ways and loving Him are essentially the same thing.  In the scriptures, to love God means to obey Him.  In Jn. 14:15 the Lord said, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”  Thus, if we love God we will obey Him.  We cannot love God and walk our own way.

Third, God required Israel to serve Him with all their heart and soul.  This is how God separates true disciples from fake ones.  Our Lord made this distinction in many of His confrontations with the scribes and Pharisees.  These men were considered the best keepers of the Law of Moses, but the Lord said their hearts were far from God (Mt. 15:8-9).  They were insincere in their worship and often set aside God’s law in favor of their man-made traditions.  God requires sincere worship, and true disciples will not fail to serve Him with all their heart and soul.

Fourth, God required that Israel keep His commandments and statutes.  In a word, this is obedience, and it is the foundation of being acceptable to God.  In fact, each of the preceding requirements is also based upon obedience.  The bottom line is that God requires all who come to Him to obey Him.  There is no wiggle room in this requirement.  We either obey God, or we don’t.  It is each person’s choice, of course, but God will not suspend His commandments if we choose to ignore them.

The final element of Moses’ statement is crucial.  At the end of Deut. 10:13 Moses said that the things God commanded Israel were for their good.  Later in Deuteronomy Moses spoke in detail of all the good things that would come to Israel if they obeyed God’s law.  He also warned them of the evil that would befall them if they disobeyed.  Knowing that God’s laws were for their good should have motivated them to faithfully keep it.  It should also motivate us to keep God’s will today, for Paul said that godliness holds promise for the present life and for the life to come as well (1 Tim. 4:8).

What the Lord requires of us is not complicated.  It is a simple matter of each of us deciding to put His will first in our lives.  If we do so, good things will come to us in life, and at the end of time we will receive a home in heaven for eternity.  With such a reward in view, it just makes sense to do all the Lord requires.

One of the sad realities of the modern world is that the meaning of certain words has become distorted and thus diluted.  Courage is one of these words.  In the twisted thinking of the politically correct world, a man who decided that he is actually a woman has been touted for having the courage to publicly proclaim that he is now a she.  At the same time, those whose actions demonstrate the true meaning of courage are mocked by the cultural elite.  It is no wonder that so many in our world are so confused.

Courage is defined as, “the attitude or response of facing and dealing with anything recognized as dangerous, difficult, or painful, instead of withdrawing from it; fearless or brave, valor, pluck.”  This definition reminds us of words attributed to the late actor John Wayne.  He said, “Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway.”  We see this attribute every time a fireman goes into a burning building or a police officer responds to a 911 call.  We see it in our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines, who run to the sound of the guns.

Most of the time these are the images that come to mind when we think of courage, but there are many other examples of this attribute that do not necessarily entail putting oneself in harm’s way.  An unwed mother who chooses to give up her baby for adoption rather than aborting it, shows courage in doing so.  A single parent who works hard to provide for his or her children while also training them to be responsible citizens is another example of courage.  So also, is the Christian who stands up for his or her commitment to the Lord.

In our country it has not generally been dangerous to be a Christian, but even so, being a disciple of Christ can be difficult or painful.  The pressure from unbelievers and skeptics to conform to their ungodly ways is great.  The open mocking of Christian faith that is becoming more common in the media and in society at large is real.  These are most often the circumstances in which our courage may be tested.  The scriptures certainly anticipated these circumstances and thus call us to have courage as we walk with the Lord.

One of the most powerful examples of our call to courage appears in the Old Testament.  When Moses was about to die, he commissioned Joshua to lead Israel into the promised land.  In Deut. 31:6-7 Moses exhorted Joshua to be strong and courageous as he led them.  After Moses’ death, God spoke to Joshua and repeated this exhortation in Josh. 1:6-9.  In God’s exhortation, however, we see a crucial element in the courage to which Joshua was called.  God told Joshua to be strong and courageous, and to obey the law that Moses had delivered to Israel.  This, ultimately, is the key to having spiritual courage.

If we give God’s word first place in our lives, we will have the courage He calls us to have.  This was the case with Paul.  When he was in custody in Jerusalem under accusation from the Jews, the Lord appeared to him and said, “Take courage; for as you have solemnly witnessed to My cause at Jerusalem, so you must also witness at Rome also” (Acts 23:11).  Paul could have courage because he was doing the Lord’s will.  As a result, he was able to accomplish all that the Lord commissioned him to do.

None of us may face the same dangers that Paul did, but we can still have spiritual courage if we do the Lord’s will as he did.  We demonstrate our courage by living up to the high calling of Christ.  Our faithful walk with the Lord defends His integrity before unbelievers.  Our faithful obedience to His word shines the light of God’s truth into the darkness of sin, and accomplishes His will.  It takes courage to do so, but we can do it, just as Joshua did, and just as Paul did.

Love is one of the most powerful motivations in human life.  It is something that every person needs and desires.  It is a subject that has dominated literature and music for hundreds of years, and movies since the inception of this medium.  Love can move men and women to do things that they might not otherwise do.  As a result, people sometimes try to use love as leverage to get others to do what they want.  Sadly, this influence has not always been used for good purposes.

It is this fact that illustrates how skewed society’s view of love is.  Much of what the world calls love is little more than feelings or desires.  Thus, people glibly speak of “falling into” or “falling out of” love according to how they feel at that moment.  When viewed in this manner, love is fickle and fragile.  It is merely a vehicle for the fulfillment of one’s personal wants.

When we open the pages of scripture we discover that love is nothing like this.  The predominant word for love in the New Testament is agape, which is the highest and noblest concept of love.  It is an act of the will in which one does what is best and right for others in every circumstance of life.  This is the love that God showed for mankind when He sent His one and only Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.  Paul described it best in Rom. 5:8, where he said, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.”

Mankind did nothing to cause God to take this action.  He took it because we needed it, and because He chose to do so, despite our indifference to His will.  This is what true love is, and this is the love to which each of us should aspire.  If we made this kind of love our goal, we would never ask anything of another that was not in his or her best interests before God.

In addition to this, the kind of love to which God has called us requires something else of us.  On the night of His betrayal, the Lord spoke to His apostles about many important subjects.  During this discourse the Lord revealed another essential aspect of biblical love.  In Jn. 14:15 He said, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”

The scriptures do not reveal how the apostles reacted to this declaration.  This omission suggests that they were not surprised by what the Lord said.  Apparently, they recognized and acknowledged the connection between love and obedience.  Whether they made the connection or not, however, the fact remains that the Lord required this of them, and consequently, requires it of us as well.

In simple terms, God expects us to show our love for Him by doing what He has commanded in His word.  When we understand this important truth, it should change our attitude about the Christian walk.  Many people want to emphasize love, while diminishing obedience. The words of our Lord show that one cannot be separated from the other.  If we love God, we must obey Him.  We cannot do otherwise, because to do so means we do not love Him.

If we love the Lord, we will only do that which is right and best for all in every situation, and we will not fail to obey all that the Lord has commanded in His word.  If we love the Lord in this way, we will please Him, and we will be among the redeemed who are ushered into heaven at the end of time.

The book of Hebrews makes a compelling case for the superiority of Christ over all who came before Him.  Our Lord is superior to the angels.  He is superior to Moses, and His covenant is superior to the covenant of Moses.  The Lord is our high priest and His priesthood is superior to the priesthood of Aaron.  As a result, the writer of Hebrews exhorted his readers to give even more attention to Christ than they had given to the Law of Moses.

In Heb. 11 the writer gave a summary of some of the worthy people of ancient times who demonstrated their faith in God by their obedience to His will, and by the many mighty deeds they performed.  The reason for this reminder was to exhort his readers to persevere in their own walk of faith.  In Heb. 12:1-2 he said, “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin that so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Two aspects of this statement catch our attention.  First, the writer warns us that we must be wary of “the sin that so easily entangles us”.  In other words, we must not become lackadaisical about sin.  Paul warned that if we think we are standing we should take heed that we do not fall (1 Cor. 10:12).  Just as God warned Cain, sin is crouching at the door and we must master it, or it will surely entangle us.

Second, we must keep our eyes fixed on the Lord, who is the author and perfecter of our faith.  This is the secret to successfully running the race that has been set before us.  If our focus is on Jesus Christ, we will not lose sight of the goal.  If our focus is on Jesus Christ, we will not be distracted or deterred from our race.  If our focus is on Jesus Christ, we will not become entangled in sin and we will lay aside every encumbrance that could hinder our progress toward our home in heaven.

Focus is a fragile thing, as is evident in many aspects of life.  For example, a slight error in focus can make a shooter miss the bulls-eye.  A photographer whose camera is out of focus will not get a clear picture.  A driver who allows his focus to stray from the road ahead risks death or injury in a traffic accident.  As a result, we correctly stress the importance of maintaining proper focus in these and other areas of life.

Without diminishing the importance of focus in these areas, we need to pay heed to the exhortation of the inspired writer of Hebrews.  There is nothing more important than the eternal destiny of our souls.  Therefore, there is nothing more important than keeping our focus on Jesus Christ, who is the author and perfecter of our faith.  He endured the cross, despising its shame, to give us the opportunity to live in His Father’s house forever.  If we focus our attention on Him and on His word, that sacrifice will not have been in vain.

We are like gladiators in the arena.  We are on the field of competition and the prize is our souls.  We face a determined enemy whose sole goal is to turn our focus away from the Lord.  He entices us with sin in all its forms, but if we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus Christ, we will not be distracted by it.  If we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus Christ, we will not be deterred in the race that has been set before us.

All around us the faithful cloud of witnesses who persevered in their own faith are cheering us on to the goal.  If we keep our focus on Jesus Christ, and on His word, nothing will keep us from winning the crown of life.

Whenever we encounter a particularly self-centered person we may comment that he is only looking out for #1.  By this we mean that his primary focus is only on his own needs and desires.  In some cases, this kind of self-interest may be limited to a specific circumstance.  For example, a person might point a finger of accusation at another to deflect suspicion from himself, even if he was involved in the questionable activity.  In such a case, the self-centered person cares more about his own welfare than about what is right or true.  In its most extreme manifestation, this attitude may pervade every aspect of a person’s life.  This kind of person cares only about his own welfare, no matter what the situation may be.

This “me-first” attitude has always been present in society, going back perhaps as far as Cain and Abel.  It has not, however, been as widespread as it appears to be today.  In the last fifty years people have become far more self-centered and self-absorbed than in any previous generation.  While there are still many in society who genuinely care about the needs of others, the majority seem to be concerned only about themselves and their own welfare.

This attitude is so pervasive that it has even crept into the church.  Many might balk at this conclusion, but it is undoubtedly true.  To be certain, this self-centeredness is generally expressed in subtle ways, but it is there nonetheless.  In previous generations, a visitor could expect to be warmly greeted when he arrived at the assembly, and to receive an invitation to join a family for a meal afterward.  Today, most of us are so focused on our personal plans that we do not even think about extending such hospitality.  We’re too busy looking out for #1 to even think about anyone else’s needs, much less to act on them.  We are so self-absorbed that we often fail to extend such courtesies even to our brothers and sisters in Christ.

This is not how it was in the early church, and it certainly is not what the Lord expects of us.  Shortly after the church was established, Luke records that believers cared for one another by sharing with anyone who might have need (Acts 2:44-45).  Those who had no needs were cognizant of those who did and gave of themselves to help meet those needs.  Their generosity and mutual care for one another puts us to shame today.

When Paul wrote to the church in Philippi, he commanded them to look out for one another.  In Phil. 2:3-4 he said, “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.”  In other words, as disciples of Christ we should be looking out for #2.

Doing so does not mean that we must neglect our own needs.  Rather, it underscores the fact that we are not loners on the road to eternal life.  We are part of a family, the family of God, and we share responsibility for each other’s welfare on this journey.  The beauty of God’s plan is that if each of His children is looking out for #2, then no one’s needs will ever be neglected.

The Lord Himself is our example.  In Phil. 2:5-11 Paul reminded the Philippians that Christ put their welfare above His own by going to the cross to redeem them from sin.  For this reason, God has exalted His name above all others.  In light of this truth, we should spend more time looking out for #2.  Doing so will give us a better perspective of the journey to eternal life, and it will please and honor the Lord who died for us.

There is little question that we live in a consumer-driven society.  Most businesses pay careful attention to the desires and preferences of their customers, and try to mold their product line or services to meet these preferences.  Sometimes companies ignore their constituents and make changes that are unpopular.  In 1985 the Coca Cola Company changed the formula of its flagship product, and the result was disastrous.  The uproar from customers was so fierce that within a few months the original formula was returned to production.

The power of consumer preferences has not been lost on the religious world.  Beginning about twenty-five years ago the leadership of some churches began to modify their approach in order to appeal to what church-growth gurus call, “the unchurched”.  As a result, preachers began to dress more casually, worship music became more like a rock concert, more and varied social programs were initiated, and the emphasis of preaching turned more to the person of Jesus, and less to doctrinal matters.  It was believed that these changes would make the church more appealing to those who had never been to church.

Consumers are quick to pick up on such things, and thus more and more people now come to churches with a shopping list of amenities they expect those churches to offer.  Visitors now ask, “What programs does your church offer?”  They inquire about youth programs, singles ministries, divorce or drug recovery programs, day care, and other such things.  If the church offers these amenities, they might consider joining it.  If not, they take their list to the next church.  Unfortunately, the primary concern of many church leaders is only on how to fill the church building.  Therefore, the pressure to follow this trend is considerable.

When we open the pages of scriptures, however, the idea of a consumer-driven church is nowhere to be found.  Neither Jesus, nor His apostles, put their finger to the wind to see what was popular among the people.  Instead, they urged people to focus on the unimpeachable word of God, and to mold their desires in compliance with it.  Paul notably told the elders of the church in Ephesus that he was innocent of the blood of all men because he had not failed to proclaim the whole counsel of God to them (Acts 20:26-27).  In other words, he had told them everything they needed to know to please God.  If they chose not to obey God, they would bear responsibility for that decision.

When God sent Ezekiel to the people of Judah to warn them of His impending judgment because of their sins, He told the prophet to proclaim His word to them, “whether they listen or not” (Ezk. 2:4-5).  This theme is constant throughout the scriptures, even in the New Testament.  The apostles called people to become what God wanted them to be.  They never modified their message to fit the preferences of the people.  They spoke the truth in love (Eph. 4:15), but the declared the whole truth without compromise.

If popular opinion determined our eternal destiny, then it might make sense to be a consumer-driven church.  However, the Lord said that His word will judge us at the last day (Jn. 12:48).  He also warned the seven churches of Asia that He would remove their lampstand if they did not obey Him (Rev. 2-3).  From the beginning of His ministry the Lord made it clear that we must do things God’s way in order to enter heaven (Mt. 7:21-23).  If we want a home in heaven, we must keep seeking the things above, rather than the things on earth (Col. 2:1-2).  Christ purchased the church with His blood (Acts 20:28).  Therefore, the church must be Christ-driven, not consumer-driven, in all it does.

The quintessential American hero is the loner.  He is a man who lives and travels alone, and to all outward appearances has no need of companionship.  In the old westerns his only possessions were the clothes on his back, his gun, his saddle and the gear packed in it, his horse, and maybe a dog.  He spent his life going from place to place, pausing only long enough to pick up supplies, and, if necessary, to vanquish the bad guys.  When the dust settled, he rode off into the sunset, never to be seen again.

This portrayal has long been associated with Americans and we have reveled in this imagery of “rugged individualism”, a phrase that was popularized by Herbert Hoover during his presidency.  The paradox of our love affair with this imagery is the fact that few of us are emotionally or psychologically inclined toward it.  The plain truth is that most of us would find such an existence so lonely that it would destroy us.  In fact, we generally tend to look with concern upon anyone who seems to not need or desire social interaction with others.

Whatever our views of the loner might be, we need to recognize that this is not the way God intended for us to live.  The scriptures show this in two ways.  First, after God created Adam the scripture says, “Then the Lord God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him'” (Gen. 1:18).  God knew that human beings need intimate companionship.  For this reason He made the woman and gave her to Adam to be his wife.  The marriage relationship not only provides this needed companionship, but also helps us avoid sexual sin.

Second, the scriptures teach that Christians do not make the journey to eternal life alone.  In Rom. 12:3-8 and in 1 Cor. 12:12-26 Paul taught that Christians are individually members of the body of Christ.  As such we are connected to each other in the same way that all the parts of the human body are connected to each other.  Thus, what each one of us does, or does not do, affects the rest of the body.  Paul dramatically made this point by saying that one part of the body cannot say to another part that it has no need of it (1 Cor. 12:14-21).  In other words, no part of the body can subsist apart from the rest of the body.

In Eph. 4:11-16 Paul illustrated the importance of our interaction with each other as members of the body.  He said that the body only grows when each individual part functions as it should in conjunction with all the other parts of the body.  This is one of our purposes as Christians.  If we are not involving ourselves in the lives of our fellow Christians we are not only missing out on the encouragement and edification that they give us, but we are robbing them of the same.

In 1624 the English poet John Donne wrote, “No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as any manner of thy friends or of thine own were; any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind.  And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.”

As human beings we are inexorably tied to one another.  What affects one affects all of us.  However, how much more so is this true of Christians?  We cannot help each other on our journey to eternal life until and unless we are involved in each other’s lives.  We, of all people, should desire the sweet fellowship of those who share our faith in Jesus Christ.  We, of all people, should get out of our comfort zone and refuse to be loners.

On the night in which the Lord was betrayed, He revealed to the eleven apostles (Judas having been dismissed from the Passover meal) that He would be leaving them.  However, the Lord assured them that they would not be forgotten.  In Jn. 14:1-4 He promised them that He was going away to prepare a place for them in His Father’s house, and that one day He would return to take them there.  Then, He told them that they knew the way to where He was going.

In v. 5 Thomas asked the question that each of them must have been thinking.  He said, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?”  The Lord’s reply in v. 6 was simple, yet enigmatic.  He said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”  This could not have been the answer the apostles expected.  They were still expecting the Lord to establish an earthly kingdom so they may have thought He was going to some wilderness place to which they had never been.

An earthly kingdom of the type they anticipated was never the Lord’s plan, though.  His was and remains a spiritual kingdom.  During His ministry on the earth the Lord revealed that His miraculous works showed that the kingdom of God had come upon mankind (Mt. 12:28).  Nevertheless, we don’t enter the kingdom in the same way that we catch the flu.  Although the kingdom is all around us, we still need directions in order to enter it.

This prompts us to ask a question which is very much like the one the apostles asked at the Passover meal in Jn. 14.  If we truly wish to enter the kingdom we must ask, “Which way must we go?”  The answer the Lord gave that night is still the correct, and only, answer.  The Lord is the way to the kingdom of God, but what does this actually mean?  How can we know that we are going the right way?

In the Sermon on the Mount the Lord gave the first indication of which way we must go in order to reach the eternal reward.  In Mt. 7:13-14 He said, “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it.  For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”  This, like the Lord’s statement in Jn. 14:6, seems to be a simple declaration, but He had something very particular in mind by both of these statements.

To follow Jesus, the way, and to enter the narrow gate, means to obey His commands.  This is the most basic factor in our quest to enter the kingdom and to receive eternal life.  On the night of His betrayal, shortly after telling the eleven that He is the way, the Lord said, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments” (Jn. 14:15).  This was not something new, for He had emphasized this much earlier in His ministry.

In Luke’s record of the Sermon on the Mount he included a statement not found in Matthew’s account.  In Lk. 6:46 the Lord asked, “Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I say?”  He then followed with the parable of the wise and foolish builders.  His point was that we will only be blessed by God if we obey the things which His Son commands us.  This is a timeless truth that is, sadly, lost on many today.

Nearly 600 years before the birth of our Lord, Jeremiah said, “I know, O Lord, that a man’s way is not in himself, nor is it in a man who walks to direct his steps” (Jer. 10:23).  This is as true today as it was then.  Therefore, it is incumbent upon us to ask, “Which way?”, as we travel down the pathway of life.  Then, having received the answer, “I am the way,” let us follow the Lord by obeying everything He commands us.

The beginning of a new year is the time at which many people make resolutions regarding what they intend to do in that year.  It may be a commitment to live more healthily, or to stop some bad habit.  It may be to do a better job at work or at school, or to improve one’s skills in some area.  However, in one sense New Year’s resolutions have become synonymous with failure.  This is because so few people make them, and fewer still actually keep them.

Whether one keeps a typical New Year’s resolution may not seem important in the ebb and flow of life.  We may wish we were slimmer, healthier, more active, more intelligent, kinder, or wiser, but most of us manage to rationalize our failure to become so.  As our resolutions drop by the wayside, we comfort ourselves with the thought that at least we did not become worse in these areas of our lives.  This may or may not be the case, but the farther into the New Year we go, the less it matters to us.

When we consider resolutions in the context of spiritual matters, however, they are far more significant.  To resolve means to reach a firm decision about something.  The implication is that once this decision has been made it must be carried through without fail.  This is certainly the expectation that we find in the scriptures.  In Acts 11 the scripture tells us that certain disciples came to Antioch of Syria and began preaching to the Gentiles.  When the church in Jerusalem heard of this, they sent Barnabas to Antioch to check on this report.

When Barnabas came to Antioch he found that these Gentiles had indeed been converted to Christ.  In Acts 11:23 Luke says, “Then when he arrived and witnessed the grace of God, he rejoiced and began to encourage them all with resolute heart to remain true to the Lord.”  These Gentiles had made a firm decision to obey the gospel and to follow Christ.  Barnabas exhorted them to remain true to that resolution.  The evidence suggests that they did just that, for beginning in Acts 13 the scriptures tell us that this church sent Paul out on three missionary journeys to proclaim the gospel across the Mediterranean.

Men like Barnabas and Paul are living examples of what being resolved in Christ means.  While the focus of the latter half of Acts is primarily on Paul’s work, we know that both he and Barnabas remained true to the Lord with resolute hearts the rest of their lives.  At the end of Paul’s life he summarized his situation in 2 Tim. 4:7-8.  He said, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith: in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.”

This is the key for all Christians.  We have made a resolution, a firm decision, to follow Jesus by our obedience to the gospel.  Therefore, we must remain true to that commitment with resolute heart through all the ups and downs of life.  This is the example of the great apostle, and it is the expectation of the scriptures.  The crown of righteousness is only given to those who fight the good fight, finish the course, and keep the faith.

Therefore, as we begin a New Year, whether new in the faith or with many years in Christ, let us be resolved that we will “with resolute heart” remain true to the Lord.  Satan will try to deter us from this great resolution, but the reward for faithful service is too great to give up before reaching the goal.  In the words of the wonderful old hymn, let each of us say, “I am resolved, no longer to linger, charmed by the world’s delight”.