A New Year Begins

This picture is of me receiving my new ESV Study Bible for Christmas from Brooke. I strongly encourage all of you to invest in one of these!

Please forgive me for my failure to post any blogs in the last week and a half. For the past 10 days, I've been blessed to spend time with family and friends (with a few days leading a middle school retreat in between). It's been a joyful, refreshing time. I'm thankful for the Almighty for granting me this time. I hope you've had time of rest as well.

A New year has begun. Within that reality, my question to you today is: What GOALS do you have in this year? Or perhaps you have just a singular goal? I'm not a big fan of resolutions. I can sit back and recall several that I made (most of them didn't last longer than a month). It is almost better not to set them and stay in your normal ways as compared to setting them and only committing to them for a month. What is your goal?

I love what the apostle Paul wrote thousands of years ago. Paul wrote, "I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:14). In order to receive the full richness of this verse, I encourage you to read all of Philippians. Don't worry, it's not that long of a book! You can have it read in under 10 minutes. It's worth it.

Look at that verse with me. Paul writes that his GOAL is to press on toward the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. It wasn't to preach to larger crowds. It wasn't to retire. It wasn't to receive any financial blessings. It wasn't to spend more time with family. His goal was to press on toward God; in Christ Jesus. What an amazing goal! In the original language, Paul used the word brabeion (brab-i'-on: an award (of arbitration), specially a prize in the public games -- prize). What an amazing idea! It wasn't just a goal that can be done and checked off the list. Paul writes this ambition hoping to receive an award. Friend, our reward is to daily worship the King on this side of glory, and to continue that eternally on the other side. This is the goal that I want every day. I don't want to make it a simple statement just for today. I want this to be my mission.

What goals do you have? Do you have a goal? I encourage you as we begin a new year to try reading the Bible through the year. It's an amazing journey! One way to press on toward the goal of God in Christ Jesus is to read His Word. Begin with John. Begin with Genesis. Begin anywhere! He has given us 66 books to choose from. Choose wisely. Have a great new year.

Blessings,

Dave