01-05-2025 The Wise Thing to Do This Year

Text: Romans 12:1-2

                    Here we are at the start of a new year – 2025.  Can you believe it!  Our natural instinct is to approach it with anticipation of good things to come.  That is a good thing to do.  But we must also approach it from a spiritual perspective and use it as an opportunity to take stock of how we are living up to being a Christian.  Let’s look at some wise things we can do as we begin this new year of 2025.

                   Our text this morning was written by Paul and is found in Romans 12:1-2 which says:  “ (1)  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that  you present your bodies a Living Sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.  (2) And be not conformed to this world but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

                   As Christians, the message of a new year is not so much a message of time but rather one of eternity.  This is because the eternal God can not be measured in years.  Yet there are certain truths that we face each new year such as the coming of Jesus is one year closer, our own death is one year nearer, and our opportunity for service to God is one year shorter.  Because of all of these realities we are faced with both an anticipation and an urgency that is unknown to the non-Christian world.  Our God has good, pleasing, and perfect plans for each one of His children.  He wants us to be transformed with renewed minds, live to honor and obey Him, and to serve others in the name of Jesus.  Because He wants only what is best for us, and because He gave us His Son to make our eternal life possible, we should joyfully give ourselves as living sacrifices in service to Him.  Psalm 90:12 tells us when we realize that life is short it helps us to use whatever time we have more wisely and for eternal good.  So, we should all ask ourselves two questions.  First, what can I do to grow in the wisdom of God before I die? And second, what small step can I take toward fulfilling God’s purpose in my life today?

                   Verse 1 of our text tells us that it is wise to surrender to Jesus.  Paul is begging us to do this as this is what ‘beseech’ means.  He is urging us to put aside our own desires to follow Jesus, putting all our energy and resources at His disposal and trusting Him to guide us.  We do this out of gratitude for His willingness to be crucified so that our sins can be forgiven.  This becomes an action that is in harmony with the highest intelligent reasoning.  No scientific discovery could be possible without intelligent reasoning.  That said, there is no higher intelligent reasoning that that of God our Creator.  Because we believe this, the world looks at us as fanatics.  But this is what Jesus calls true wisdom.   And it’s the basis for us taking this stance the about the power of God described in Romans 11:33-36, it’s the basis for the passion of Jesus described in the earlier chapters of Romans, and it’s the testimony of Paul himself.  These are summarized by Paul as ‘the mercies of God.’ 

                   We learn in verse 2 of our text that it is also wise to be separate from the world when Paul wrote that we should not be conformed to this world.  Everywhere we look today there are people wanting to do things that make them fit into the mainstream, so they conform to the latest fads found in music, fashion, decorating, and even how we speak.  But as Christians, our goal is to do things that make us more like Jesus.  Paul is warning Christians about following the selfish and corrupt patterns of this fallen world.  Many Christians wisely decide that a large portion of the world’s behavior is off-limits to them.  Our refusal to conform to this world, however, must go even deeper than just behavior and customs.  It must be firmly planted in the values rooted in our minds as given to us through the Holy Spirit.  This is what Paul meant when he wrote about ‘being transformed by the renewing of our mind.’  We should also understand that it is possible to avoid most worldly customs and still be a proud, covetous, selfish, stubborn, and arrogant person.  These people are not Christians so don’t be deceived.  It’s only when we allow the Holy Spirit into our heart and mind that we can truly be renewed, reeducated, and redirected into a life that is truly transformed for Jesus.

                   As Christians we are to shine for Jesus.  As we are transformed, we willingly and easily take off the mask that hides our Christianity from the world.  It’s wise for us to change our outside face to the world to be consistent with our inside when we allow the Holy Spirit to work within in us.  Galatians 5:22-23 shows us that when we are transformed we produce something special in our lives.  Paul calls it the work of the Spirit of fruit.  The Holy Spirit spontaneously and creatively produces this fruit within us that generates the character traits of love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control which were perfectly modeled to us by the life Jesus lived.  Theres are traits we can’t get on our own.  When we let Jesus be our example of how we are going to live, they will grow and flow from us naturally. 

                   So, as you begin this new year, make it a point to do what is wise in the sight of God and allow your heart and life to be renewed and conformed to Jesus Christ and not to the ways of this world.  Allow your mind to transformed by continued study of God’s Word and being open to the things that the Holy Spirit wants to show you as you read and study your Bible.  Think spiritually in order to understand that everything is given to us through the Cross and is obtained by faith and not works.  Recognize that we can’t do any of this on our own.  It takes faith and trust that Jesus is always beside us guiding and helping us to live in a way that is wise so that our place in eternity will be secure. 

                   Will we always get it right?  Absolutely not.  We are going to slip and fall often.  He understands that.  But when it happens, confess your failure to Him and immediately ask for forgiveness.  When we do that the Bible tells us He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins.  The Christian life is never going to be easy in this world.  But we are promised that in the end, it will be worth it when we finally see the face of Jesus and live for eternity in peace and harmony.

                   As we gather around the Table of the Lord for the first time this year, I ask that you approach it by looking within your heart and resolve to renew and transform your heart and mind by trusting in Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior and using Him as your example for living a Christian life from this day forward.  Always do your best to shine for Jesus!

                   Until we meet again, may God bless and keep you, may He shine His light on you, show you grace, and give you peace in all the days ahead.