Growth

Mission Accomplished

The start of another year. It’s a time for goals to be made as well as hypotheses for how long it will take us to achieve them. These goals not only help us mark our progress but help us to know when we have completed what we set out to do. They are a way to identify success – to know that the sacrifices that we made, the time we invested, was worth it.

This inclination to measure progress is not unique to secular pursuits. Churches may set goals in regards to attendance or new memberships. Individuals may have aspirations in regards to the time that they will spend reading the Bible or memorizing His Word. We  may set good and beneficial goals for ourselves that will further our understanding of Who God is and deepen our relationship with Him. The problem arises when we think these goals are the end; when we think achieving them means that we have arrived. For the Christian, there is no earthly achievement that marks the pinnacle of our walk with Christ. This comes when Christ calls us Home.

Years ago, President George W. Bush found himself in a public relations nightmare when he stood on an aircraft carrier with a “Mission Accomplished’ banner hanging in the background. Time would demonstrate that success hadn’t been achieved in Iraq and in fact that the war would wage for years to come. We face a similar problem when we think achievement of the goals that we set here completes what God has given us to do. If we are still on this Earth, then there is still more that He has for us. Our mission is only completed when we are in His presence. He, not our goals, decides when our work here is done.

So as we start a new year, let us make sure that we resolve to love more and work harder for the sake of God’s Kingdom. At the same time, if we are still here next year, let us remember that we haven’t accomplished all that God has for us, and let us run hard after Him, so that when our mission here is over, we can here Him say “Well done.”
What are your goals for the new year? How will you continue to run hard after Christ even if you “accomplish” what you’ve set out to do?

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New Things for the New Year

It’s traditional that the new year is a time for reflection and for improvement. Since I leave my annual reflection to my birthday, I suppose I don’t fully partake of this tradition. Additionally, I’m not much for New Year’s resolutions as it seems to me any time is a good time to assess where you are and make new goals that will lead to a deepening walk with God or an improved ability to serve Him. That being said, the start of another year does give us the perception of a clean slate, and thereby affords us the chance to make changes at a time when everybody expects it.

It was a little over a year ago in November 2010 that I made the goal to share a new post every weekday. I haven’t perfectly achieved this goal, but more often than not, I have. I must admit – I’m not sure that I thought I would be able to maintain the pace. However, God was gracious and the encouragement that I have received from you through your comments and your willingness to share the blog with others has been a further blessing. Lord-willing, I plan to keep posting every weekday during this coming year. There are also two additional features that I plan to add:

  • Bits & Pieces – as you may have seen at the end of last year, I started sharing my most-read 2011 posts in a feature called “Bits & Pieces.” My goal is to continue this in the new year, but instead of featuring posts from this blog, feature items of interest or encouragement from other sources. I’ve been looking for a way to share these types of items for a while, but hadn’t found an organized way of doing so that fit with my routine. The “Bits & Pieces” concepts was inspired my Tim Challies’ daily “A La Carte” posts and I hope that you will find them beneficial.
  • Weekend post – An additional goal that I have is to regularly write a longer post that will be shared on the weekend. Again, Challies’ blog was helpful in formulated how I could go about sharing content that is more in-depth than my daily posts. The content of these posts may range from book reviews to transcripts of talks that I have given to simply discussions that exceed the limits of a weekday post. I haven’t yet committed to doing one every weekend, but I hope more often than not, there will be one to share.

I hope that you find these new features beneficial and that they strengthen and deepen your relationship with the King of Kings.

~N.A. Winter

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