1-2-12<\/p>\n
Another year, another celebration, another \u201cback to work.\u201d Yet if we can remind ourselves each morning that \u201cthis is the day that the Lord has made,\u201d we can take a fresh look at 2012 and declare, \u201cThis is the year that the Lord has made!\u201d<\/p>\n
Let us be glad and rejoice in it! <\/p>\n
The Year of the Lord Two Thousand Twelve. Are there challenges that loom up to the left and right? It Dozen matter! And are you one of the folks who make resolutions every New Year? If rules are made to be broken, many of our resolutions seem made to be\u2026 postponed.<\/p>\n
Well, not surprisingly, the Bible provides all the Resolutions we need to face the new year, day by day:<\/p>\n
1\tI am the Lord your God\u2026 You shall have no other gods before Me. Most of us have problems with long lists. Jesus knew this, and whether He was announcing the cancellation of the Law \u2013 since He was its fulfillment \u2013 or wisely providing us with spiritual Cliff\u2019s Notes, the better for us to obey and practice, He gave us two Resolutions we can adopt:<\/p>\n You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.<\/em> (Matthew 22:37-40)<\/p>\n Two for Twelve. Happy New Year!<\/p>\n + + +<\/p>\n And to the extent we are able to follow these commandments, keep these resolutions, we must remember that obedience is due to God. Commandments are more for our well-being than for God\u2019s dispensation of gold stars. It is His grace, not our works, that bring favor in His sight. His Amazing Grace. Whenever you need an emotional nudge as a reminder, watch this video \u2013 a large orchestra, starting with a pennywhistle, a violin, a bagpipe, then hundreds of bagpipes performing before tens of thousands of worshipers in Berlin. Andre Rieu at a nighttime outdoor concert.<\/p>\n
\n2\tYou shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything\u2026 For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God\u2026.
\n3\tYou shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.
\n4\tRemember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
\n5\tHonor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.
\n6\tYou shall not murder.
\n7\tYou shall not commit adultery.
\n8\tYou shall not steal.
\n9\tYou shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
\n10\tYou shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife\u2026 nor anything that is your neighbor’s.<\/em> (Exodus 20:2-17 NKJV)<\/p>\n