Happy New Year!
What a good thing this new year is! A time for starting over. A time to pledge to do those good things we forgot or delayed or were unable to do last year. A time to live a worthy life. A time to love our neighbors. A time to be loyal to and supportive of our church.
Most people make resolutions for the 12 months ahead, so today instead of offering you a recipe for 12 Sunday Dinners, may I make some suggestions for 365 days? It is appropriate that I do so, because there was a lot of eating in the New Testament: fishes, loaves, plucked corn, Peter’s mother-in-law cooking supper, dinner with the tax collector, feeding thousands, a meal with Simon the leper, the Lord’s Supper, and so on.
Consider these:
- Practice Christianity in your life and make it an example for others. We may not be totally successful, but we can try. “Set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity” (1 Timothy 4:11b).
- Be regular in your Sunday school and church attendance. Jesus’ example is recorded in several places in the Gospels. “And when the Sabbath day was come, he began teaching in the synagogue” (Mark 6:2).
- Give your tithe to the church. With that goes the responsibility of knowing how the church money is being used. If you have a question, ask the treasurer, someone on the finance committee, or a deacon. “A tithe of everything … belongs to the Lord” (Leviticus 27:30).
- Be willing to serve in your church, whether as a teacher, an usher, a committee member, a singer in the choir, whatever. “Try to excel in gifts that build up the church” (1 Corinthians 14:12).
- At least once a month (two or more times would be better), visit someone to show your concern. This can be a person who visited the church a few times but has been absent, a church member who is ill, a neighbor, a newcomer to your neighborhood or community. “I was sick and you looked after me” (Matthew 25:34b).
- Make a telephone call (five minutes would do it) to let a neighbor, church member or relative who has been absent or ill know that you are concerned about them. “Love the Lord your God with all your soul and with all your mind … And the second is like it: love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37-38).
- If you have a disagreement with someone (whether a co-worker, relative, neighbor, the preacher, or a church member), talk about the problem. Don’t let a misunderstanding fester until it is really bad. “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger” (Proverbs 15:1).
- Don’t gossip. “Without gossip, a quarrel dies down” (Proverbs 26:20).
- If you have a job outside the home, do it the best that you can with honesty and wisdom. “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord” (Colossians 3:23).
- And remember the second commandment: Love your neighbor. It’s hard to be mean, dishonest and critical toward someone you love.
Have a good year.
And send me your recipes.