New Year's resolutions are horrid little things, really. They start with the best of intentions, yet really exist just to stockpile a nice big guilt bomb when you falter within a week or two. That's the cynic inside me talking. Still, I love making them, and I'm struggling with my Big Three resolutions this year: to lose weight, to work harder, and to incorporate more prayer and daily devotions into my life.
As a youth pastor, you'd think this last resolution would come easy to me — or maybe you're shocked it's even there. Yet prayer and daily scripture readings aren't something that comes natural right at the point of salvation; prayer is a quite unnatural thing for most of us, who have to be retrained in the art of talking (and listening) to God after so long away from His company. Scripture, while exciting and captivating to me, still gets edged out due to busy schedules and other flashy points of interest. So this is my resolution, and one of the ways I'm looking to keep it is to journal my spiritual life this year. Putting it online in blog format will hopefully keep me honest and accountable (don't mistake this for a man boasting of his own mighty spiritual prowess).
I chose the title of this blog from my reading and study of a passage in Ezekiel 3 that I'm using for my next Sunday School lesson. In Ezekiel 3:16-27, the priest-cum-prophet learns what he is called to do by God: he is called to be a watchman for the exiled nation of Israel. The nation is in trouble - in fact, it is on the verge of extinction, as its land is conquered and its people are scattered and enslaved into a new culture that does not worship the One True God. And they've already been unfaithful to God even before their exile. The consequences and dangers of this road are extreme, but God hasn't given up on them, and uses Ezekiel to be His mouthpiece - a voice of warning, of guidance, of truth. Whether or not the people listen to him isn't Ezekiel's concern; he is called to be faithful.
As are we: 1 Peter 2:9 and Romans 15:15-16 inform us that God has called us as well to be the watchmen (and watchwomen) of the world, the priests of this age, the proclaimers of the gospel of truth. Our concern isn't whether or not people will listen, whether or not we will be popular or ridiculed for what we say, or whether or not we receive fame and glory for this role. Our concern is to be faithful.
I'd really love to be faithful to God in this way this year. My prayer at the start of this blog is for God to mold me into a strong watchman for His use.
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