What Needs to be Seen in 2017
What Needs to be Seen in 2017
An elderly man who was reviewing his life was asked to define what robbed him of joy. He replied, “Things that never happened.”
What do we do about the things that did happen this past year? How do we keep the things that never happened from happening this coming year? What does God expect from us in this new year? What needs to be seen in 2017?
Here are a few ideas:
- This coming year, we need to live up to our salvation in Jesus Christ (Hebrews 2:3).
In Hebrews 2:3, God did not ask us how we would escape if we reject His great salvation. He asked us, “How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation.” Become a practicing believer. Live your faith publicly. Behave what you believe.
- This coming year, we need to lead someone to salvation in Jesus Christ (Matthew 9:35-38).
Christ was out among the people (that is where people are led to Christ). As He went to where the people were, the greatest Soul-Winner of all time saw a tremendous need that went beyond the loaves and fishes of John 6. In describing the scene, a participating eyewitness recorded these words in Matthew 9:35-38, “Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. [36] But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. [37] Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few; [38] Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth laborers into his harvest (KJV).”
What does Christ expect of His soul-winning people?
We must have a vision for the lost (Matthew 9:36a). Christ saw the people. Instead of merely passing by, we must see people too. We must see them as lost and act on what we see.
We must have a burden for the lost (Matthew 9:36b).
When Christ saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion on them because they fainted and were scattered as sheep in need of a shepherd.
What is compassion? It is a love that cannot be restrained no matter what the cost. Yet, fear of embarrassment, apathy, or other obstacles keep us from sharing the news of Christ. Jesus may come in 2017. There needs to be a sense of urgency and a burden in our hearts to reach people for Christ. Our sense of urgency needs to resemble a shepherd looking for sheep.
We must actively seek the lost (Matthew 9:37-38). Christ said, “The harvest truly is plenteous but the laborers are few [38] Pray ye the Lord of the harvest that He sends forth laborers into His field.” In many lives, the greatest sin of omission is the sin of no mission. We need to get back to that leading souls to Christ.
- In this coming year, we need to let Jesus know that we love Him (1 John 4:7-10).
David Livingstone was a missionary in Africa who had such an impact on lives that his body lies entombed with kings in London’s Westminster Abbey. In his daily diary, David Livingstone wrote these words on giving,
People talk of the sacrifice I have made in spending so much of my life in Africa. Can that be called a sacrifice which is simply paying back a small part of the great debt we owe to God which we can never repay? Is that a sacrifice which brings its own blest reward in healthful activity, in the consciousness of doing good, in peace of mind, and in that bright hope of glorious destiny afterward? Away with the word in such a view and with such a thought for it is emphatically no sacrifice. I say rather, it is a privilege.
God proved His love at Calvary. This coming year, how will we prove our love for Him?
A prayer of thankfulness for this new year:
More sky than man can see, more sea than he can sail, more sun that he can bear to watch, more stars than he can scale.
More breath than he can breathe, more yield than he can sow, more grace than he can comprehend, more love than he can know.
Thank you God for all that You are, all that You do, and all that You bestow! This coming year, may we live a life that honors You.