Are you praying? The apostle Paul exhorts us to "pray without ceasing" (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Encouraging Christians to put on "the whole armor of God," (Ephesians 6:11-17), Paul further instructed them to be "praying always with all prayer and supplication" (verse 18). Jesus used an entire parable to emphasize "that men always ought to pray and not lose heart" (Luke 18:1-8). Obviously, prayer ought to be an integral part of a Christian's life.
Just how important is it to be at services when the church meets? Now, at the beginning of a new year, is an especially good time to consider this question. As Christians, we need to always be examining ourselves to make sure that our lives reflect true faithfulness (2 Corinthians 13:5). But many people are reflecting on their lives more seriously right now than they normally would do.
God's word is "living and powerful" (Hebrews 4:12). God guides us and communicates His will to us through His word (Psalm 119:105). The gospel message of salvation is revealed to us in God's word (Romans 1:16). By reading His word we understand that it is through the gospel that we are actually called to salvation (2 Thessalonians 2:13-14). His word guides us as to how to live a faithful, productive Christian life after coming to salvation (2 Timothy 3:15-17). It is no wonder that God instructs us to diligently study His word in order to be able to correctly understand and apply it to our lives, and to stand approved before Him (2 Timothy 2:15).
These are truly troubling times! This world is engulfed in turmoil and chaos resulting from a culture of violence that sweeps around the globe. The problem is widespread; it crosses national, ethnic, racial, social, educational, economic, and religious lines. The violence takes different forms and is based on different reasons, motivations, and ideologies from place to place, group to group, and person to person.
As we come to the end of one year and the beginning of another, it's a good time to do some self examination. Are you where you want to be in life? Whatever your life is like, are you happy with it? If you could have projected ahead ten years ago, would this be what you wanted your life to become? Are you happy with how your life has played out to this point? If you knew that your life had to remain just as it is now, indefinitely into the future, would you be satisfied? If you faced death tomorrow, would you feel content that your life has been fulfilling, worthwhile, productive? Would others look back on your life and be thankful that you were here and lived the way you did?
This is a good time to think about your soul! When? Right now! Many people may think that this admonition probably has something to do with the holiday season. After all, we celebrated Thanksgiving Day just a few weeks ago. That certainly sounds like it has spiritual overtones. In a few days, many people will be celebrating the physical birthday of Jesus, even though He was not born on that day, neither does the Bible say when He was born, nor does it give any instruction as to having a special day of celebration on that day, whenever it was. Then, just a week later we will celebrate New Years Day, a day that marks new beginnings. All kinds of spiritual applications can be made in connection with that concept.
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