It’s January 1, 2013. Today, Americans all over the country are setting resolutions for the upcoming year. According to dictionary.com, the word “resolution” means “the act of resolving or determining upon an action or course of action, method, procedure, etc.” A “resolution” is stronger than a “goal” because it asserts planning, determination, and action. I know what my first resolution will be: write articles for my blog more often (this if my first one in over two months). There are numerous other resolutions I will set out to accomplish in 2013. Some include:
1. Continue through the Dave Ramsey steps.
2. Have more date nights with Tammie.
3. Finish my annual Bible reading plan (Youversion.com is perfect for this).
4. Stay fit.
5. Work on my skiing. It’s still not fun for my wife to go with me.
6. Complete more items on Renton Christian’s Strategic Plan, so that the school is better at the end of 2013 than at the start of the year.
Everyone of us failed in at least a few of our resolutions in 2012. But it doesn’t matter because now it’s 2013. A new, clean calendar goes on the wall, which symbolizes the new start in our lives too.
As we set our resolutions for the new year, be sure to set some spiritual goals too. One of the most remarkable characteristics of God’s nature is his willingness to put our past behind us. When we confess our sin and shortcomings to him, He immediately forgives and grants us a fresh start. And God goes a step further, by re-creating us more in his image. 2 Corinthians 5:17 states, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”
We can apply that principle to a new calendar year. The old year has gone and the new year has come. Set some resolutions, and ask God’s help to complete them. Recall the Apostle Paul, who was in prison when he wrote, “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13). Resolve to be a better spouse, parent, employee, and most of all, follower of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Happy New Year!
Worship the Creator, not the Creation
As I tour prospective parents around the Renton Christian campus and introduce them to our school, questions regarding curriculum inevitably arises. I summarize our biblical worldview upon which all of our curriculum is based by saying we teach about the Creator and his creation. As students learn science, history, math, social studies and all the other subjects, one learns about the magnificent God who put it into place (see “God’s Systems” video).
The Bible makes clear that amongst the creatures He made, human beings are distinct and special from the rest. No one else has been created in his image with an eternal soul, the ability of complex rationale thought, and the invitation for a personal relationship with God Almighty. He knew us before we were even born. King David declared this in Psalm 139,
For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth (Psalm 139:13-15). Human beings are special and the earth was created for our needs and comforts.
My sense of tree-huggers is they perceive themselves to be the most enlightened among us. Yet worship of the sun, moon, stars, trees, and mountains is the most ancient form of idolotry known to the world. Radical environmentalists, and others who worship earth (Wiccans, for example), are the oldest re-treads one could ever find. One could say they are the least illuminated among us. They have repackaged a false ideology that has existed in a variety of forms for thousands of years. I can think of the worshippers of Ra and the Druids, to name a few, in a long list of occultic religions found in human history. Today, the radical environmentalist movement, whose doctrines have permeated the political arena in the United States, Europe and much of the world, seek to prevent human use of land, water and natural resources. They teach evolution, global warming, the need for green energy, and an overall attitude that humans are a nuisance at best, and destructive at worst, and should apologize for using the earth’s resources. And for the earth-worshippers, these are moral issues. Those who do not believe in their doctrines should be labeled heretics and called out for their “sin” (drilling for oil, cutting down trees, fishing, hunting, driving SUVs). This is worship of creation, and not the Creator.
As Christians, we must be careful not to allow the “wisdom” of this age to infiltrate our minds and behaviors. It is a challenge because we are inundated through the media, public school curriculum, college professors, and politicians, with friendly-sounding terms such as “sustainability,” “carbon footprint,” and “green energy.” These are rooted in the concept that there is no God and human beings are the problem. God does not view us in this way and doesn’t want us to believe it either. Your children (and you as well) were specially created by God and placed on a planet made just for us.
Let’s enjoy God’s wonderful creation that he made for our provision and pleasure. Not to do so is an insult to the Creator. Let’s be good stewards of what has been given to us so that the generations that follow can live the full life God intended when he made the Garden of Eden. Worship the Creator, love others, and enjoy his creation. Only God could come up with something as marvelous as planet earth, and then place people as incredible as we are to maintain it.