Musings from the Ozone

In January, there is always so much talk of 'newness,' ' starting afresh,' 'first of the year,' 'fresh start, etc.'   Our traditions in history have set the stage for this phenomena.  Just imagine a new year starting in say, August, or May?  It is psychological in nature that we have been brainwashed to wait until January to make those pesky new year's resolutions; resolutions that we seldom keep.  I wrote a blog piece once about renewing, restoring, 're-doing' anything, and primarily stressed that to' redo' something is just doing again something that had been already done in the first place.  

Take our  house for instance.  I don't mean home,  I mean house.  We painted the living room 6 years ago.  Why did we think that it would be the last time we would ever paint it?  Some times it does stretch out to many years before a room is painted again, but in our case, there seems to be an invisible visitor who comes along and fades the original paint, puts some nail holes in places, or brushes up against a wall, or puts  a stain or mark that has to be removed somehow.  We solve the problem by 're-painting' the room!  

I am not going to 're-write' my old blog entry here, but I was thinking along the lines of feeling 'renewed' after our annual watch night service.  While 'watch night' seems to have gone out of style in some places, it is still vibrant and alive in our local assembly.  It is a definite moment when we get a new chance at 'change'….a renewal in it's infancy of thought.  This year was no different.  There I was, having to concentrate on something other than the humdrum of living---coming face to face with my inadequacies as a Christian and I needed to make a decision.  Was I going to go in deeper waters for God, or continue to float on the surface?  While I was in this presence of mind, a thought came to me regarding focus.

 I have read some very wonderful advice in my time regarding focus.  Anthony Robbins wrote: “It's not what's happening to you now or what has happened in your past that determines who you become. Rather, it's your decisions about what to focus on, what things mean to you, and what you're going to do about them that will determine your ultimate destiny.”   It is true--whatever you focus your attention on, that will claim your energy for the moment.

  When we decide to read the bible through for this year, we must put our bibles in a very conspicuous place.  I made up my mind last year to read the daily passages from only one bible.  I thought if I used just that certain bible all the time,  I would not lose my place, and that I would carefully place a bookmark on the spot for the next reading.  I was strict with myself, even though I do like reading my bible on the iPad.  I always continued reading from the chosen bible just to make my mind feel 'fulfilled.'  It is sad that we have to 'trick' our minds sometimes!  The point here is that we must keep our focus alive and in front of us.  Just taking a week off of something we are focused on, is enough time to forget about it!  We would never get that room repainted if we took our focus off of the need to do so. 

 My thoughts began to take shape of how I could keep my interest up in striving to be a better Christian.  Again, focus was the place to start.  As much as a good habit is a thing to desire, we need something more than just habit to keep our inspiration going.  This is where prayer takes  precedence over all our objectives.  When we commune with God, we must realize that we are just an unfinished piece of work.  We might wish or hope for something good to take place in our life, but doubts rush in to ruin our best efforts.  When we pray, God and God alone infuses our poor will with new hope and feelings of encouragement.  Anyone who feels like they are talking to a wall when they pray, are not praying in faith.  We do not pray in vain, but in faith that God hears and will reward our prayers.  When we pray, we do not need to 'feel' God's spirit in order to pray.  Just continue praying to God, and trust Him for the outcome.  If we only prayed when we felt the urge to pray, we would defeat our best purposes of keeping focused on reaching God.  This is not 'habit' prayer, although that is good too, but it is 'commitment' to prayer, which is what we have to do in order to stay focused on spiritual things.  I have a friend that calls me from time to time.  If I ever feel sick, or down, she begins praying for me right over the phone.  It is such a comfort knowing someone is praying for me. 

 I am writing about' renewing our spirits,' and truthfully,  much could be written about the subject.  However, my objective here was to remind myself and others that if we want a spiritual renewal we need to really focus on the God's method for renewal!  He is the one who laid the plans for us to keep in touch with Him.  Reading of spiritual books , hearing  good seminars, good teaching, good talks with friends, etc., may renew your interest in spirituality, but there is nothing that can renew your spirit  like prayer, fasting ,hearing of the word of God through preaching and reading your bible.