The end of anything brings an opportunity to evaluate. The purpose is to see what worked and what did not. The closing days of another year present each of us with a chance to change course through setting goals. This is especially important in the spiritual realm.
I hope we will all set the goal of having a guarded heart. The wise man said, “Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of
life” (Proverbs 4:23). Keeping the heart requires one to watch his thinking (Proverbs 23:7). The heart must be guarded because it is the source of the things that come out of our mouths (Matthew 12:34).
A clean mouth ought to be another goal. Peter said, “For ‘He who would love life And see good days, Let him refrain his tongue from evil, And his lips from speaking deceit’” (1 Peter 3:10). James has an extensive discussion of the tongue. In part, he said, “But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God” (James 3:8-13). Jesus is our example. Peter said of the Lord, “Who committed no sin, Nor was deceit found in His mouth” (1 Peter 2:22).
A pondered path should also be our goal. The wise man told his son, “Ponder the path of your feet, And let all your ways be established. Do not turn to the right or the left; Remove your foot from evil” (Proverbs 4:26-27). A well thought out path can be ours if we follow the instructions of the writer of Hebrews (Hebrews 12:1-2).
It is easy to say, “That is right. I need to do that one day.” Paul challenges those of us who might say that, when he writes “See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is” (Ephesians 5:15-17). In other words, do it now.
Gary Hampton