New Year Resolutions?

There are all sorts of Christian blogs on new year resolutions – e.g., here and here by Maggi Dawn. I’m not one for resolutions, they always seem a bit too legalistic for me. I prefer the notion of the Methodist Covenant Service at the beginning of the year, where we make solemn promises and commitments to God, but all in the light of his grace and unwavering love.

 

However my daily Bible reading yesterday (I use Scripture Union’s Encounter With God notes) was deeply challenging. The passage was Matthew 4:18-25. Simon and Andrew leave their nets to follow Jesus, James and John leave their boat to do the same. The notes (by John Grayston) included the following. It leaves me with questions about what it would really mean for me to get out of the ‘boat’ I am in as a Methodist minister, where a lot of people want the ‘safe’ option, the temptation is to give precisely that, and the system adds pressures in that direction, too.

The call is to leave all that is familiar, that makes sense of life and provides security … How is it that to follow Jesus has become, for so many, too easy? … What demands has our faith made of us? … Instantly, the early followers are plunged into a community where they see God at work in new ways. They live on the edge, not only in terms of the sacrifice they have made but also in the way they experience God.