3 Keys to a Great 2015

The Babylonians and the Romans made annual promises to their gods. Apparently, some Medieval knights took an annual “peacock vow” to re-affirm their commitment to chivalry. And each year around this time we do our 21st century version of this old practice. So as you consider all the weight you want to lose, the debt you want to pay down, and the bible reading plans you want to dominate in 2015, I’d like to point your attention to three keys to a great 2015.

  1. FOCUS ON THE RIGHT GOAL

I went to my first Nashville Predators game the other day. And as much as I’d like to say otherwise, it was awesome. While you still couldn’t pay me to watch it at home, I’d pay to go to another game. Unlike football games, the action is non-stop. But like football games—and just about every other sport—the goal of hockey is immediately obvious to anyone in the building.

And as nice as it would be if this were the case in life, it’s not. The goal of life isn’t immediately obvious. The main goal that should direct all our tertiary goals in 2015 isn’t immediately evident.

Should fame be our goal? Happiness? Power? Family? Health? A lot of money? Companies in our culture spend hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars to shape the answer you give to this question. The right goal of life isn’t clear.

That’s why the answer that Jesus gave to a group of Middle Eastern Bible scholars in the 1st century was so stunning. When Jesus was asked which biblical command out of the hundreds of commands was the greatest, without blinking, he said that it was loving the Lord with all of your being (Matt 22:36-37).

This means that all of those biblical commands to “do this,” “feel that,” “don’t do that,” and “believe this” should be motivated by a love for the Lord. The main goal of your life is to love Jesus as Lord.

Is that your goal? Are you focused on this goal? Your answer to this question isn’t some irrelevant “how many angels can dance on the head of a pin needle” type of answer. Everything’s at stake. Because if you miss the goal of your life, you’ll lose at the game of life. And that’s a loss column you don’t want to be in.

This past Fall, my daughter played what can loosely be defined as soccer. And every once and a while a girl would score on the wrong goal. Each time this happened, the cute kid was so proud, so confident, walked to their parents with such a sense of accomplishment. The kid felt so right, but was sooo wrong. But we all couldn’t help but smile with her.

It’s cute when this kind of thing happens to kids at soccer games. It’s gut-wrenching to see someone focus on the wrong goal with their life. Don’t miss the goal of your life that was given to you by the Creator of your life. Growing and expressing your love of Jesus is the right goal to focus on in 2015.

 

  1. UNDERSTAND YOUR GREATEST CHALLENGE

But you can’t just pursue the right goal of your life. You need to understand the greatest challenge to your goal. Godly intentions don’t equal godly results. If you try to pursue the right goal of your life without understanding the greatest challenge, you’ll miss it. And if you want to understand your greatest challenge, look no further than the Pharisees.

Do you think that Pharisees set out to be the bad guys of Scripture? Do you think that Pharisees memorized tons of Scripture so they could better oppose its Author? I don’t. But that’s what happened (Matt. 22:34-35). Their godly intentions didn’t equal godly results. Why? There is a subtle, deep sickness that marks humanity—sin—that derails the best of intentions.

This past Christmas we were so looking forward to time on my in-law’s farm. They have about a 100 acres on which to hunt, 4-wheel, feed chickens, and more. Plus, all of the cousins would be there. We were pumped.

And then one of the kids got the flu and derailed all the plans. By the time my sick kid and I got home from the doctor, everybody’s vans were packed and ready to go. I’ve never seen that group of people move that fast. Certain types of sickness can derail the best of plans.

That’s what happened to the Pharisees. And that’s the story of every person’s life. We aspire for noble things, but our best plans get derailed by a nasty sickness. Far worse than any mutating flu virus, sin infects all of our being—ruining our best intended plans.

Even if your final result is better than the Pharisees and your able to “move mountains” with your faith, if you don’t have love, you have nothing (1 Cor. 13:2). Understand your greatest challenge—your subtle, sin sickness.

         3. CLING TO THE GOSPEL

When you set your sights on the right goal and you understand your greatest challenge, you’ll inevitably experience great despair—unless you believe the gospel. The good news of the gospel isn’t that Jesus came to command loving people to love more the next year. It’s not that Jesus came to command unloving people to love. It’s that Jesus loved us by living the perfectly loving life we wish we could live in 2015, and died the sinner’s death we should have died for our 2014, and was raised from the dead, defeating sin, death, and the devil. We receive the benefits of his loving work by repenting of our unloving, sinful ways, and trusting him as our Savior, Treasure, and Lord. And when we receive Him in this way, we receive His Spirit who empowers us to love in 2015 and beyond (Gal 5). The Spirit of God determines the right goal of the people of God. And when this happens, the love of the Lord becomes our goal with all of life for all of life in 2015.