Do Not Waver: Wholehearted Faith in the New Year
Morning, brothers. We Canadian men rightly desire to be steady, like a power forward who plants himself in front of the net, takes the crosschecks, and screens the goalie. But in life and in hockey, the grind can wear down our old bodies, and we can indeed get knocked off balance. Let me encourage you that I fully believe that God has great things in store for you and your family this year.
God works in His ways: mysterious, unique, creative, surprising, righteous, and perfectly coordinated. Our role is not as complicated as we make it. Jesus says we have a job: to believe in the Son of Man, to spend our energy seeking the eternal life only the Son of Man can give us (John 6:27 and 29).
In the pages of 1 Kings, we read of a dismal parade of rulers after Solomon, men who began with promise and ended in ruin. The common thread is painfully simple: they did not follow God with all their heart. Like Solomon himself, they pursued false gods, worldly pleasures, and power alliances until the kingdom fractured and the altars smoldered with compromise.
There were exceptions, thank God, like King Asa, who “did what was right in the eyes of the Lord” and removed the idols, and Elijah, who stood alone on Mount Carmel and cried out, “How much longer will you waver, hobbling between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him! But if Baal is God, then follow him!” But the people were completely silent (1 Kings 18:21). The people wavered; and wavering is the quiet death of our souls.
As we step into this new year, let us be brutally honest with ourselves, with one another, and above all with God. I write this not from some high tower of sanctity, but as a man who has known both the joy of surrender to Christ and the frustration of the hard knocks of life.
As we embark on this new year, with diets, new strategic plans, new jobs, and new beginnings we know that this life is a spiritual battlefield: moments of real grace, progress in prayer, planning, and consistency, and then, suddenly, challenges, and curveballs, and enemies and challenges that test our resolve to be good and obediently serve others well as we walk with God.
The devil does not need to invent new schemes. As C.S. Lewis tells us in Screwtape Letters, he uses time-tested methods. Keep trusting God. If we waver, we drift, and we find ourselves the double-minded man James warns of, unstable in all our ways (James 1:8).
The Bible says, “You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong - you want only what will give you pleasure” (James 4:2-3).
Yep, I'm mindful of that verse often, and my goal is to ask God plainly for great opportunities to serve others and to bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit, as the prize is an eternal one based on what we believe and do in this life (Philippians 3:20). It's a great day to love others and build for God.
Scripture is piercingly true. We scheme for what we want, chase green pastures of pleasure, and pretend it is all compatible with discipleship. Yet God watches with eyebrows raised and the perfect expression of One who knows man too well. When we waver, half in Christ, half in the world, we receive nothing from the Lord, because we ask with divided allegiance.
The practical consequences are stark. When a man heeds God fully, blessing flows to his house. However, when we listen to the voice of our flesh, the demons' spiritual poison spreads. Ahab got his heart’s desire, Jezebel, power, and alliances, but it cost him and his family dearly. He gained the woman, the throne, the wealth, and lost God's will for his life. Ahab was a foolish and wicked king. Oddly (or at least surprisingly to me) God continued faithfully to show Ahab and Israel His love; Jesus so desperately wanted them to know that the Almighty is LORD. And in the end, again a total shock to me, Ahab humbled himself and repented, and God gave him grace and forgiveness (1 Kings 21:25-29).
Scripture is no mere history book; it is fresh, clean, cold water in the hot desert, pointing us to Christ (John 5:39). The Church Jesus founded, the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic, has endured two thousand years not by compromise, but by the Holy Spirit’s unyielding guidance through teachings, miracles, saints, and sacraments. We drift, like Ahab perhaps, but God never changes; He never casts a shifting shadow.
So here is the challenge, brothers, and I speak it first to myself: Do not waver. As leaders of our households, let us plan with clarity, revise and revisit our investments, budgets, careers, yes, but far more, the daily discipline of the soul. Seek ye first the Kingdom of God. Wholeheartedly. Be clear thinkers, effective communicators, and trusted teachers. Above all, be men who follow Christ without reservation. Seek life, for life is in the Father and in the Son (John 5:26-27).
As I near 55, I see more sharply who I do not want to be: the half-hearted servant, the man who warms to the world’s pleasures and cools toward the truth of Christ our King. I know my weaknesses too well, and yet I see God's grace and the abundance of His gifts and strengths that He gives us to persevere. I need growth in the fruits of the Holy Spirit this year. I am again reading Ken Boa's Handbook to Prayer. It is a great way to pray Scripture back to God and to stay grounded and humble.
I encourage you, my friends, to cultivate a growth mindset and focus on eternal things, as well as the gifts and strengths God has given you. Long to become what God wants, long for His will in your life, for it has explosive power to build you and your family up in every good way. Let's be simple men, not simple-minded, but simple in need and ambitious to bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit, open to adventure, grounded in Scripture, learners, explorers, leaders by example, wise stewards, and flourishing fathers and husbands. Seek the truth above all. Seek first the Kingdom of God.
Ask God this year to place you on the team He chooses, to bring you into areas where you can help, where you pour out your life and do the one thing Jesus asks of us: to believe in Him (John 6:29).
Let's ask God to guard us from dysfunction, and point us to unity (Proverbs 11:1), harmony (1 Corinthians 1:10), and excellence (Ephesians 4).
Do not envy what others possess or who they pretend to be. See the devil’s schemes for the deadly poison that they are. Do not lose heart, for God is holding up His people and renewing us day by day.
God's miracles are pointing people back to God - worldwide. Let's live out a miracle today by searching for a lost sheep. Be the Shepherd that the Good Shepherd expects of us. That is worth striving for. Love and serve your family well.
This morning, God stands at the door, knocking, not to judge from afar, but to dine with us, fellowship with us, and to guide us. Welcome Jesus in as Almighty God, who privileges us with His presence.
Thank you, Jesus, for teaching us by Your life, Your passion, Your Church. Grant us the grace to follow You wholeheartedly, as sons and daughters of the Father. Amen.
Our 18-month-old grandson, Beckett (becoming a big boy fast!)
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