A New Year’s Resolution

Dear Friends in Christ,

On New Year’s Day I was reading in my Upper Room Daily Devotional Guide. The meditation was titled “Finding Time” and was written by Jennifer Bruner, an elementary school special education teacher in Michigan:

“One day while sitting in my dentist’s waiting room, I looked around for something to read to pass the time. As I started to grab a magazine, I noticed a Bible sitting next to the stack. I picked it up and opened to the Book of James. I immediately felt the stress and tensions of my day lift as I read:

‘My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance; and let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing. If any of you is lacking in wisdom, ask God, who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and it will be given you.’

It is a daily challenge to find time to read the Bible and pray. Yet I spend much leisure time reading books or magazines that promise to help me find happiness and improve my life. From this waiting-room experience, I realized that maybe it does not have to be so hard to find time to read the Bible. If I spend less time on other reading material, I find plenty of time in the day for God’s word. The Bible is filled with all the information I need for improving my life and finding not temporary but eternal happiness. Living by its guidance will improve my earthly life and prepare me for eternal life in heaven. My goal is to read the Bible and seek God with all of my heart and with as much passion as I pursue other things in my life.”

In 2007 the churchwide assembly of our Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) voted to embrace an initiative called Book of Faith. The bold vision of this five-year initiative is: “That the whole church become more fluent in the first language of faith, the language of Scripture, in order that we might live into our calling as people renewed, enlivened, empowered, and sent by the Word.”

I propose that you and I make this vision a “New Year’s Resolution for 2009”. Pastor Lynnae has been leading a Sunday School Class (9:45-10:45 a.m.) in the Activity Center based on the book, Opening the Book of Faith. There are other opportunities at Abiding Love for you to join with others in conversation as you open the Scriptures together.

The Bible is the written and living Word of God that speaks to us. It creates and nurtures faith through the work of the Holy Spirit and points us to Jesus, the center of our faith. The Bible invites us into a relationship with God, making demands on our lives and promising us new life in Christ. As the Bible tells the stories of people living their faith over the centuries, this forms us as God’s people of faith. As we live out our calling as the people of God, we are renewed, enlivened, and empowered by the Word through the power of the Holy Spirit!

No other book can do what the Bible does for our lives. It is a powerful book. As Jesus said: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” (Mark 13:31)

May you have a “Bible-Blessed Happy New Year”!

—Pastor David Fetter