"Sensible people keep their eyes glued on wisdom, but a fool's eyes wander to the ends of the earth." (Proverbs 17:24)

Did you know that time is slowing down? While in one way the technology of our world has made our lives move faster, the world—literally the planet—is slowing down. Due to the way the tides of the ocean affect the earth’s rotation time is slowing down. In order for the world’s atomic clocks to be kept in sync with the earth’s rotation one second was added at 6 p.m. yesterday, December 31. It is called a "leap second" and these have been added several times since the 1950’s but have been added more frequently since the 1970’s. I don’t know what I’ll do with an extra second but I’m glad to know it’s there. Regardless of how we view time the point is, whatever you're going to do with your life you'd better get on it because time is running out. The down side is if you're not doing something with your life it really doesn't matter how much time you've got anyway.

So what are you going to do with 2006? Regardless of how good or bad 2005 was the good news is this: Today we get to start over! Every year God gives us the opportunity to wipe the slate clean and let's start with a brand new year. How will 2006 be better than 2005? The key is this: you've got to have a plan. You don't just say, "I hope this year going to be better." You've got to plan to make it better. Proverbs 17:24 (NLT) says, " Sensible people keep their eyes glued on wisdom, but a fool's eyes wander to the ends of the earth." That means a person who lacks wisdom also lacks direction and a person without direction can end up anywhere! But a person who is sensible has direction. They keep their eyes glued on a purpose or direction. That means they have a goal, an objective, an aim, a target. Do you have direction for 2006? Or are you just going to walk into this year and hope it's better?

I learned a hard lesson over the holidays about directions. My mother-in-law had given Kathy and I a VCR/DVD combo player for Christmas. So after all the ladies had opened their gifts I asked my son-in-law Daniel if he wanted to help me hook it up. For guys Christmas is about plugging something up. Well we took it out of the box and as all guys do tossed the directions aside and immediately started unplugging wires and connecting wires. I didn’t bother to unplug the TV from the outlet because we weren’t moving it. We got everything hooked up and turned on the TV and nothing happened. I mean no power, as in a blank screen. I began to fume and decided to jus glance at the directions. Under no.1 on the quick start guide were these ominous words, "Always disconnect any electrical items before connecting new items." My mother-in-law said, "Well they put the directions in there for a reason." So due to my unwillingness to follow simple directions we now have a new TV.

This morning, let me quickly give you four steps or four keys to maximizing 2006. You might think of these as a quick start guide for 2006. Some of what I’m going to say may seem very simple and plain. It may seem like the instructions on a quick start guide. But in the words of my mother-in-law, the directions are there for a reason!

The first is to: Assume responsibility for my life. This is not a popular concept because we often say that none of our problems are our fault. Everything bad in our life is somebody else's fault. Blame anybody else, but it's not our fault. But you're never going to be a success in life and you're never going to make your life count if you have that attitude. You must assume responsibility for your own life.

Galatians 6:5 says, "For we are each responsible for our own conduct." The fact is my choices always determine more than my circumstances. You cannot control the circumstances that will happen to you in the next 365 days. I don't know what's going to happen to me and you don’t know what is going to happen to you. But you can control your actions and your reactions. The first point to making 2006 better than 2005 is to say, "Ok. I can't control the circumstances of my life. My actions and my reactions will be determined by my choices and I'm going to choose to be different in ‘2006."

There are three kinds of people in life: accusers, excusers and choosers. Accusers always blame everybody else for their problems. Excusers always have a rationale for where they are. Choosers say, "I choose to assume responsibility for my own happiness. I'm not dependent upon somebody else. I choose the direction of my life." I'm not depending upon the crowd. I'm choosing to accept responsibility for my life. If you do that, you're already a jump ahead in 2006.

Next is to: Believe I can change. Stop saying, "I can't" and start saying, "I can". Or as Coach Steve Roberts has said, "It’s not ‘I want to’ but ‘I will’." The person who says, "I can't" and the person who says, "I can" are both right. Philippians 4:13, "For I can do everything with the help of Christ who gives me the strength I need. Do you really believe that verse? That means there's nothing I'm going to hit in the next 365 days, no problem, no situation, no circumstance, no hassle that I can't handle, that I can't manage, that I'm not competent to handle.

Can I do it on my own? Of course not! But "...with the help of Christ who gives me the strength I need." We're not talking here about positive thinking. We're talking about supernatural power. You're not just psyching yourself up -- "I think... I think ... I think I can... I think I can..." There are some things that, no matter how much you think you can, you can't. That's the difference between pop psychology and Christianity. You can watch Dr. Phil all you want but he doesn’t have the power to create real change in you. There are a lot of good self help books that tell you what to do. They just don't give you any power to do it. That's why you need Jesus Christ.

I can handle anything. I believe I can change. Not on my own power, but with the power that Christ gives me, I can handle it. First you must accept responsibility for your own life. And second you must believe you can change, that God can give you the power to change if you'll trust Him.

Another key is to: Clarify what I really want. You must decide what's important and what isn't important. God has given each of us an incredible gift called the freedom to choose, the freedom of choice. That's one of the things that makes you like God. One of the ways you're different from animals is He gave you the freedom to choose between good and evil.

Job 34:3-4 says, "Just as the mouth tastes good food, the ear tests the words it hears. So let us discern for ourselves what is right; let us learn together what is good." That means to clarify what I really want. It's amazing most people never do this. They never stop and think through and write down on paper what's really important to them. Most have never clarified what their values are, what's important to them or what really counts. You can't do what's important until you clarify what is important. Otherwise you're going to be pushed around by the pressures of life doing this and that then all of a sudden the year is over and you're saying, "What have I accomplished?"

Your values determine your vision. Your desires determine your direction. Your roles determine your goals. You must first stop and say, "What's important? What really matters to me?" Most people have never made up their mind what they want out of life and if you aim at nothing, you're going to hit it. Most people have this vague feeling of, "I just want to be happy." But they've never really sat down and figured out what is it that's going to make them happy. They've never written out their values.

This month or this week, get a block of time – a two or three hour period or more – set down, write down two things on a piece of paper: "What do I value?" and "What do I want to change?" Then make this your prayer list. Put it in a place where you can review it everyday and pray about it. Then watch God do miracles in your life. Clarify what you really want. You don't have time for everything. So you need to figure out what are the two things or three things you’ve got to get done this year. What's really important?

The way you do that is ask yourself, "What's going to last?" A lot of things just aren't going to last. They're urgent but they're not important. I've been in a lot of funerals as a pastor. I've been at the bedside of a lot of dying people. In all the people I’ve talked to that are dying, I've never heard one person say, "As I look back over my life, I wish I'd spent more time working." I've never heard that. I have heard people say, "I wish I'd spent more time with my family. I wish I'd been closer to God. I wish I'd grown in some of the character and values I really believe are important. But I didn't." That is why we have to clarify what's important.

A final key is: Don't wait to begin. Do it now! Three words that will change your life are: Do it now. There will never be an ideal circumstance to start on that change, to grow, to work on that development. Do it now. Don't wait to begin. Ecclesiastes 11:4 says, "If you wait for perfect conditions, you will never get anything done."

The main excuse I hear for a person not doing now what they know they need to do is "When things settle down then I will..." They’re not going to settle down! That's called life! It's not going to settle down. If you're out there using that as an excuse – "When things settle down, I'm going to start having a daily quiet time and read my Bible every day" – you're never going to do it. You learn to read your Bible when things are unsettled. "When things settle down, I'm going to spend more time with my kids" -- they'll be grown and gone! That's when things will settle down because they're causing the unsettledness. You've got to spend time with your kids when things aren't settled down. "I'm going to reestablish that connection with my wife/husband and we're going to work on our romance." If you wait until things settle down, your love life will die on the vine. Life must be enjoyed under imperfect circumstances. Whatever you're going to do that you want to do, get on with it now!

The question most of us want to know is where do you start with setting direction for our life. There are all kinds of directions to go but where do you begin? One of the weekly newsmagazines had as it’s cover story last week, "50 Ways to Improve Your Life in 2006" (US News and World Report, Jan.2, 2006) 50 options is a lot for me to remember so let me suggest four personal ways to improve your life in 2006. They are personal development goals. If you're a Christian, then your ultimate goal is to become like Jesus Christ. So how did Jesus develop? Luke 2:52 it tells us four ways "Jesus grew in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and favor with man." This says if I want to become like Christ, I must develop the four ways Jesus developed:

If you want to be well rounded and balanced, then you need to set at least one goal in each of these four areas:

First, consider the intellectual area of your life. Ask yourself, "What do I want to learn next year?" God gave you your mind. It's a gift. It's like a muscle. If you use a muscle, it gets stronger. If you ignore a muscle, it atrophies. The same thing is true with your brain. Proverbs 19:8 says, "To acquire wisdom is to love oneself; people who cherish understanding will prosper." So, as a Christian, you must constantly be challenging yourself to grow and to develop. Ask yourself, "What do I need to learn this year?" It's good stewardship of the brain God gave you.

The second area is a physical goal. What will improve my health next year? Lose some weight? Go to bed earlier? Get on an exercise plan? Change my eating habits? Develop some kind of stress relief? Start walking everyday? The Bible is full a health tips. Proverbs 17:22 says, "A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person's strength." For some of you, God's health tip for you is, "Lighten up!" Don't sweat the small stuff. Realize it's all small stuff in God's eyes. Lighten up. "Being cheerful keeps you healthy."

A third area would be spiritual goals. What will deepen my relationship to God? 2 Peter 3:18 says, " But grow in the special favor and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." What one thing would make the biggest difference in my relationship to God? Not ten things – one thing. It might be, what have you known to do but you kept putting off last year and never did it. Are you a Christian? If you are, have you been baptized? If you haven't then maybe that will be your first goal. What a wonderful way to start a New Year to be baptized and say, "I'm not ashamed to say that I'm a believer in Jesus Christ." Then maybe you ought to join a church family. Get involved in the church family. Maybe what you need to do to is to start getting closer to God and to others in our church by joining a Sunday School class. Others of you may want to join a small group Bible Study. There are others who need to get involved in our recovery group that meets on Sunday nights. Maybe you need to start tithing. Maybe your goal is to start having a daily quiet time. But set something specific down so that at the end of this next year, you won't be going, "Did I grow any?" You had a plan.

Finally, set a social goal. What will be my ministry to others? God doesn't want you to just think of yourself. God does not bless selfishness. 1 Peter 4:10 says, "God has given gifts to each of you from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Manage them well so that God's generosity can flow through you." Is your goal to make more money in 2006 than you did in 2005? No your goal should be to allow "God’s generosity to flow through you."

Any time you help somebody else, that's called a ministry. It's called service. You serve God by serving others. Next year is going to be the year for many of you to get off the bench spiritually. You've been sitting along the sidelines, watching other people do the plays. You have gifts and talents and abilities that God has given you and He wants you to put them in action. This past year, you committed your heart to God, you committed your treasure to God through "Building Tomorrow…Today", now He's saying, "I want your life, your time, your gifts – the gifts I gave you." Set a goal to discover and get involved in a ministry next year. Maybe write down the name of a person who needs Christ. Be praying for them, sharing your faith and the good news with them. Invite them to church. Be concerned about other people and not just yourself.

You're thinking, "I've tried this! I've gone the New Years Resolution route and it lasts two weeks. I've set goals but I just don't follow through. I have the greatest of intentions every year but I just don't stick with it. I can't seem to stay with it. I don't have the power to change. All the things I want to do, I end up not doing. All the things I don't want to do, I end up doing. I don't have the power to change!" You're exactly right. That's why you must walk with Jesus Christ on a moment-by-moment basis.

Paul said in Ephesians 6:10, "Be strong with the Lord's mighty power." Resolutions won't last two weeks if you don't have this verse under your belt – Be strong with the Lord's mighty power." It will be his power that gives you the power to make commitments and then to keep commitments.

One thing that I struggle with is regret. I wish I didn’t but I do. Often at the end of the week I will think back on my week and remember that I didn’t call this person or check on this person or do this task. It’s not really because of sin that I failed to do what I regret not doing. It is that I try to accomplish more than is possible or balance my time and priorities. Yet sometimes regret is because of sin. Regardless of the source of our regret the cross of Jesus Christ is the one place where all of our regrets can be washed away and we can be given a fresh start. Paul said in Romans 6:10-11, "He died once to defeat sin, and now he lives for the glory of God. So you should consider yourselves dead to sin and able to live for the glory of God through Christ Jesus."

The power of the cross is not simply the power to forgive my past sins. That is true but that's only part of the power of the cross. When Jesus died on the cross, He paid for the penalty of our sin in the past. That means I can be forgiven and that's good news. And that would be enough if that's all there was. Yet He also paid to break the power of sin in the present. That means He gives me the energy to break the habits, hurts and hang-ups that are messing me up. The joy is that He paid so that one day I will be released from the presence of sin forever. That's called heaven where there will be no sin. I'll be freed from not only the penalty and the power of it in my life, but the actual presence of sin in my life permanently.

That is the power of the cross. That's why when we talk about making New Year's goals and the power to change our lives there is hope. Whatever this last year has been there is hope for a truly new one not because of our resolutions but because of the Cross of Jesus Christ. Because of the cross this year can be a year lived "for the glory of God through Christ Jesus." It won’t happen by accident. You need a plan and the plan starts at the Cross.

Sunday, January 1, 2006

Bro. Bruce Tippit, Pastor

First Baptist Church

Jonesboro, Arkansas

btippit@fbcjonesboro.org