How to Make 2016 the Greatest Year of Your Life
Tom Shrader presents five actionable steps for improving the new year based on Paul's introduction to Timothy in 2 Timothy 1. He challenges listeners to improve relationships, increase freedom from worldly constraints, identify and feed their passions, expand their perspective through reading and understanding the world, and rely on the Holy Spirit's power for transformation.
“You can't go this life alone. You'll make stupid, foolish mistakes.”
— Tom Shrader
Series: Past-New Year 2016
Recorded: January 14, 2016
Duration: 39 min
Themes: relationships, freedom, passion, perspective, growth, transformation, ambition, purpose, new year goals, seeking direction, feeling stuck, young adult, mentor, parent, struggling with priorities, wanting spiritual growth
Scripture: 2 Timothy 1:1-5, 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 1 Corinthians 7:23, 2 Timothy 2:4, Romans 9:4, Philippians 1:9, Ephesians 3:16-19, Acts 20:36
Theological Themes: sanctification, holy spirit, spiritual growth, biblical wisdom, spiritual maturity, christian living, discipleship, spiritual transformation
Full Transcript
Today is the second part of our annual exercise that we do, looking back, which is what we did last week, looking forward, which is what we do today. That can be confusing because we say what kind of year was last year, and then we ask you, it was a good year if you understood these things. So it makes sense to say that's kind of a philosophical framework to approach the new year, to understand the value of time and victories and defeats, 2 Timothy chapter 4, verse 6, 7, and 8.
I love lists. I love the top five of these. I'm on Facebook, but I've never posted. I'm a Facebook voyeur. I love to see what you all are doing, and I love the tests—which Disney character am I, what word describes you. I love those things. Top five of this, five new restaurants here, 10 best places to retire, all those kinds of things. Well, I love some action points.
I was in a church a while ago. It wasn't one of ours, and the guy was doing a message, and he did a good message, I guess, but at the end, he just said goodbye. He didn't give me anything to do. So we've always tried to coach our guys up that when you speak, people should be evaluating you by what did you say? Is it true? So what? So I want to give you the so what of our last week and this week and give you some things that you can do to improve the new year.
The World's Definition of Ambition
There was a book that was written a while ago now on the topic of ambition, and there was a researcher who had gone to the marketplace and discovered that ambition was now viewed not as a liability, but as an asset. This brings up the question, what's ambition? He found there were five characteristics that business leaders look to when they were trying to define somebody as ambitious.
Number one was a desire for more. Number two was an emphasis on quantity. So one is, let's get a bunch of stuff. The second one is let's get a bunch of stuff of the stuff we get. The third one was a shortage of time that you had to be in a hurry. If you called somebody to meet and they could meet with you and say, "What's your deadline?" and they go, "I can talk," they didn't see that person as ambitious.
The fourth thing was an absence of satisfaction. No finish line. I watched the Urban Meyer press conference on Tuesday morning, and they said to him, "Boy, what are you going to do with your two quarterbacks or maybe three quarterbacks next year? What do you think you need to do to repeat? What do you..." I mean, they asked like three or four questions. It was textbook. It's what I've talked to you about for years. Finally, they asked the fourth question and Urban said, "We just won this thing. Why don't we stop and enjoy this moment? We've given our staff till Thursday to enjoy this, and then we're going to move along." But there's that absence of satisfaction. If you show the slightest bit of satisfaction, then they're going to say he's lost his edge or she's lost her edge.
The fifth thing is an obsession with self. So a desire for more, an emphasis on quantity, a shortage of time, an absence of satisfaction, obsession with self. When you look at the world and they say ambition is good, that's what they mean by ambitious, which explains to you why the world is so frustrating and never satisfies. It's that hamster wheel that goes, goes, goes, goes, goes.
Again, not to say winning the national title is not important. It is. Not saying closing that deal today isn't important. It is. But if you think you're going to find ultimate satisfaction there, you're wrong. If you were the 2014 salesperson of the year, today is January 15th. No one cares what you did last year. In fact, they already told you that, didn't they? That was last year. January 1st, we're all at zero.
Five Ways to Improve This Year
Not saying those things aren't important. Let me give you five things to do that you can do to improve this year. Open your Bibles to 2 Timothy chapter 1. It's Paul's introduction to this amazing book. Very standard introduction. We can learn some stuff from it. Five things you can do to improve this year.
First: Improve Relationships
Here's the first one. Improve relationships. I'm going to maybe hone that, narrow it down to friendship. 2 Timothy chapter 1, verse 1: "Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to Timothy my dear son."
Now in this room, there are some of you who have memorized the book of 2 Timothy. There are some of you who had to just go to the index of your Bible to find out where it is. To be honest, it's the second group that I really enjoy connecting with. You're here and this is brand new to you. It's an adventure. I want you to know, I understand it can be scary because it's new stuff. You may have a PhD and you may be at the top of your field. But when it comes to Bible, you're not the brightest person in the world. Not because you don't have the aptitude. It's just experience. You're not there yet.
So I want to clarify what could be mistaken on the front here. When he says to Timothy, "my dear son," it's not his biological son. It's his spiritual son. They had this extraordinary connection.
I've had that in my life. I spent half an hour yesterday on the phone between insurance companies and hospitals and doctors. Finally, they gave up and I gave up. But we can't give up. Somebody's got to stay in the game. So I called the gal who is our insurance liaison, who's absolutely amazing. I said, "I was trying to keep you out of this, but here's where I've been." I've got the number. Can you check this out? She said, "Well, yes." Then I said, "Hey, I need another thing." I told her what it was. She started and I said, "It would be really best if you put that in an email to Sandy." She said, "You know what? There are not many guys who in life find a great wife. You found two of them." I said, "Yeah, well, one for sure. We're still working on this one. We haven't..."
crossed the finish line with this yet. But I said, that's exactly right. It's absolutely amazing. Well, I had this Paul Timothy relationship. And I knew it at the time, but I didn't fully understand it with Larry.
So I'll pick up a book in my office and it'll be a book Larry gave me. And in the inscription, he will write to my beloved son, Tomothy. And it's his little play on. I mean, it's sweet as can be.
Paul's Wish for Timothy
So Paul's writing to Timothy and then he says, I have a wish for you. Grace, mercy and peace. Now, I want to stop and make this huge point. When you have a wish for your kid or your grand kid, what do you wish? Well, we wish they don't get strung out on drugs and don't get pregnant. And we wish they go to school not to learn anything. God forbid they'd learn anything, but to get a good job. We wish all of these, which are all important.
I'm at Coal Banker and we're in the office. It's out in Mesa. And we had a receptionist who'd been around long enough to warrant us getting her a gift for getting married, which is, you know, we decided let's get together and rather than buy 28 different candles, why don't we put our money together and get something good? So we throw the money in, no problem. I can do that.
But then we had to sign the card. Well, I'm not good at that. Good luck, Tom. I don't know what to write. So the card's coming around the room. You can see it like an Ebola virus just working its way back to my desk. And it's coming back and coming back. And the girl in front of me, lady in front, I don't even know what to say anymore. The woman in front of me signed the card and I could see her work in the upper left hand corner. And so I wanted to see what she wrote.
And here's what she wrote: "On this special day, I wish you all the world has to offer." And I thought, that's an interesting wish. Disaster, pestilence, famine, drought, emptiness. That's what we wish.
Paul said, I want to wish you something, Timothy, and it's not health, and it's not safe travel. I'm on the freeway, speaking of safe travel, I'm on the freeway going to get Sandy at the airport Tuesday, and I'm just putzing along, and I see, you know how you see the red light in the car in front of you, but if you don't see them coming at you, you figure they're... So I see him, and I see the guy ahead of him, and before I know it, this guy runs into the guy ahead of him, who runs into the guy ahead of him. And I'm standing on the brake, and I'm from here to the music stand away from the guy, about to relax when I look out the rearview mirror, and I see this van closing in on me, and so I'm all braced, and this guy stops, and then he gets... And the bottom line, there's five cars in an accident, and I'm sitting in the middle, and I'm the only one that didn't get hit. How cool is that? That was pretty cool. God's good even if I get hit, but He felt especially good on that one.
Grace, Mercy, and Peace from God
So you wish safety. He said, here's what I wish. Here's the best thing you can have. Grace and mercy and peace. Unmerited favor. The blessing of God. Not judgment for your sin. Not God giving you what you deserve, but what you don't deserve. And peace, which is the absence of turmoil. No, it's the presence of God.
So Paul says to Timothy, I wish you grace, mercy, and peace. Now look close. Where do I find those? They're from God. I'm not going to find them from the world. I'm not going to find them from a person.
So Sandy's been gone for a week, and absence does make the heart grow fonder, I think. But I have to be very careful, because here's what can happen in my marriage, and so what can happen in yours, or any relationship, is pretty soon, I become convinced that God put Sandy in my life to meet my needs. I'm not there to meet my needs. She can't meet my needs. Only God can do that.
So look at this introduction. We can go on and on and on. He said, I thank God who I serve as my forefathers did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers. Verse 4, "Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy. I've been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandma Lois, in your mother Eunice, and I'm persuaded now lives in you."
The Role of Fathers in Faith
Now just a cursory reading of that, just with a little bit of criticism, you look at that, and the first thing I observe is, where's grandpa and where's dad? And that's what happens a lot in spiritual things, is that's the woman's deal. Mom will take care of that. Guys, it's our responsibility to lead.
I'm teaching Sunday. This is not me at my best, I don't think. I'm teaching Sunday at our Gateway Campus, and they're doing a series on all of life, all for Jesus. They're doing marriage, money, parenting, and work. And they gave me parenting. You think it's the toughest topic for me. But I know this. Dad, step up.
Deep Relationships Matter
Here's the point I want to make. Verse 4, recalling your tears. It's probably a scene that took place that's recorded in Acts chapter 20, where Paul is saying goodbye to the church at Ephesus, and He teaches them and warns them, prepares them, and then it says in verse something, I can't see, 26 I think, or 36, "when He said these things, He knelt down and prayed with them, and there was much weeping on the part of all of them, and they embraced Paul and kissed Him, being sorrowful most of all because of the words that had been spoken, and that they would not see His face again."
This is the year to develop those relationships. And I'm going to be bold here and make it as simple as I can, at least one. I got a bunch of Christmas cards this year, like you did, and I love them. If you send us Christmas cards, thank you. I love Christmas cards. I love the pictures, and I love the stories. We got a Christmas card yesterday, so I presume it's the last one. But I got this card, I got this card, it was Sandy Sits-a-Mount, and I'm reading this letter, it was a great letter, and I got four kids, and they're all valedictorians, all the stuff.
And I said, "I don't recognize this name." And then there was a picture, and I didn't recognize the picture. I don't know who these people were. I don't mean that in a bad way—that's the nature of this—but I'm saying that's not a friend because somebody sends you a Christmas card with a picture and a letter. Not a friend.
You need desperately somebody around you. Ladies, you need a lady that you can be with, talk with, live life with. Guys, you need a guy. Even if there isn't a specific issue, even if it's just hanging out.
Sandy teaches a Monday morning women's Bible study up this way. She was gone—she was in North Carolina to see Angie, and then went to St. Louis to see her mom and dad and sisters. So when she's gone, I take the ladies Bible study. Not probably my sweet spot, but I do the best I can.
In the study, there's a lady who the week before came on Monday. She hadn't been there in about two months. Her husband had passed away. So she had been busy taking care of her husband's things that need to be taken care of, the housekeeping part of winding that down and her kids. So the Monday before was their first Monday back. And it was this very emotional experience. All the ladies hugging, kissing. This is great.
That was Monday. Wednesday, she had a heart attack and died. So this was the first Monday back. So I'm walking into this and I said, "Ladies, I don't have all the details, but why don't you tell me about it and then let's sort this out." So we spent an hour and a half talking about it.
There's one lady in the group who years ago had, as I remember, a teenage son that died. And she talked about how tough that was. I said, "How did you get through that?" And then she said, "Well, I don't know you ever get through it. But what allowed me to go from one day to the next were my friends."
You Can't Build Relationships in Crisis
Now, you don't just at that point go, "Man, I'm in crisis. I need a friend." This is people you hang out with, you meet with. Larry and I did that for a long time. There's a guy by the name of Jerry Smith. Jerry Smith and I had breakfast virtually every Friday morning for 20 years. Not with an agenda, not with a study, just to live life. And then as the crises of life and the decisions of life come up, you have a context for it.
You can't go this life alone. You'll make stupid, foolish mistakes. If Tiger needs a coach for his golf swing, you need one for your life. Or if Tiger needs a life coach, you need one for your life.
Number Two: It's the Year to Increase Freedom
First Corinthians, classic important verse. First Corinthians 7:23: "You were bought at a price. Don't become a slave to men." We sing this song: "You'll never know how much it costs to see my sin on that cross." I was bought from the bondage of sin and the agony of death and I'm free. This is always what I like. I'm free to be the person God meant me to be.
But when He says you were bought at a price, don't become slaves to men. The studies on that talk about the way that they were beginning to become slaves of the ways of men, the ways of the world, the ways of flesh. That's the slavery to be concerned about—to begin to think like the world. I need perspective. That's a lot of what we talked about last week. I need this perspective. I need the vantage point that God gives me on my life.
So you may have something that's entangled you. Second Timothy 2:4: "No soldier in active duty entangles themselves in the affairs of everyday life." I don't know what those would be. I don't know if you're beginning to think like the world says. It says just go get as much as you can. If it feels good, do it. There are no rules to consenting adults.
The Problem of Debt
Just watch the story on student loans. It's driving me crazy. I've been talking about it for two years. You now have $1.3 trillion in student debt that these kids are saying, "I don't think I should have to pay it." At least in the housing process, the bank got the house at the end of the day. There's nothing to get here. They ought to put a tattoo on this kid's head and said, "I didn't pay my loan, don't hire me. I'm not trustworthy." That's a little harsh. But I mean, don't you think—you said you're gonna pay. But the president solved it, he'll give you two years of free school.
Having said all of that, maybe it's debt. So I can walk into the parking lot. I can go to Fashion Square today and there are two—pick a car—two Mercedes. Two Mercedes there. One is about to be repossessed and the other, the guy paid cash for. I can't tell walking up which is which. That's debt.
Debt, and this is not the technical term from Wharton Business School, but debt is an instrument that allows you to pretend to be something you really aren't. So I can go, "I really want to be perceived as this thing, so I'm gonna go into debt." Here's the deal, and this always used to work, at least until now: you gotta pay this stuff back someday. And so maybe this is the year that you take step one—it's a process—toward being debt free.
Whatever Has You in Bondage
Maybe you discovered over the holidays that you aren't a wine kind—you can have a glass of wine—but over the holidays, everything's loose and you decide you're gonna have two or three and you realize now that's become an issue for you. I don't know. This is the year to find something, whatever it is, that has you in bondage, and this is the year to begin the process of getting free.
Maybe you're somebody that's overly concerned about what people think. My grandson Braden has red hair and freckles, and I think he looks great, but he had a year last year. He was in second grade, and one of the sixth graders was on him pretty hard for his red hair and his freckles. And so he's talking to his mom, who's wise, and she's
taking him through it. And he said, you know, mom, I really don't care that much what he thinks. I know Jesus loves me. Well, I want to get that way. Maybe you're somebody, when you walked into these Christmas parties, what really came out is you really care what people think. Image becomes very important. I'm not saying dress like me and be a slug. I'm just saying I don't want to be driven by the approval of man. There's a great book for you if that's your issue. It's called When People Are Big and God is Small. Great book on that.
Identify Your Passion and Feed It
Here's the third thing. Intensify, and I may need to reword it, or identify your passion and feed it. Paul says in Romans 9:4, I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brethren, those of my own race, the people of Israel. Paul's speaking here in hypothetical hyperbole, and he's saying if I could lose my salvation, I'd trade it. That's how much and how passionate I am about the nation of Israel.
What is it that drives your passion? Now, I think that word's got overused. I'm a little cautious to use that word passion, because you got a bunch of people, it feels like, who are searching for their passion, and that equates to something where they can just go crazy about this thing, and they equate it to all sorts of emotion, and you may be a quiet, introverted person. That's fine. In fact, there's a house next door to me. I hope you buy it if you're quiet and introverted. And so you walk into the office tomorrow, and you go, I am so excited about the—don't be phony, just something that drives you, something that captures you, and we live at a time when there isn't much of that.
There was a survey: 47% of high school students—there's certain statistics that when I read them, I'm going, this is a problem. 6,000 kids a day drop out of high school. That's a problem. That's a huge demographic problem for 10, 20 years from now. I don't know what the last number was, 52, 53% of women who have babies are not married. Years ago, they did a study, and they said, there's two things that will guarantee poverty: Don't graduate from high school, and have a baby without a spouse. It's a demographic bubble that's coming through, but 47% of kids said, I cannot find one thing I'd die for.
I'm with people all the time who say, how's that food? It's to die for. You die for faith, family, and friends. You don't die for a cheeseburger. If there's nothing worth dying for, there's nothing worth living for. So when you stop and think, you can understand the world around you. So you see all of these people that are walking zombies, why? There's nothing worth dying for. There's nothing worth living for.
Training Engagement and Passion
I have a grandson, Yale, who is an interesting kid. So he came home from school the first day of first grade, and I said, are you excited? He said, not really. I already know, I won't learn anything this year. I already know all this stuff. Really, you learn that the first day. You know all of this stuff. He said, yeah, I didn't learn anything today. I don't think I'll learn anything. And that's Yale.
He came over to the house Friday. Says, I was there by myself, and so we're hanging out and we're talking. And I said, how was school? And he said, good. He said, we had a substitute teacher today. You know what she said? No, he said, she said, I'm amazing. Really? And you needed to hear that. And he said, that's what she said, that I'm amazing.
Well, I had Yale that first day, and I said, what did you learn? And he said, I didn't learn anything. I said, don't ever say that to me again. I don't want to hear that ever again. You gotta learn, I don't care if you learn that the girl next to you wore a blue dress. Don't ever say that to me again. If I ask you what you learned today, and you say nothing, I'm gonna stuff your head in the toilet. Don't say nothing to me. Say something. Make it up. I don't care. And when you say it, look at me.
And you gotta train on that. So you're walking around. I'm with all of these younger people that don't get, look you in the eye—I mean, isn't this right? Isn't that what your dad told you? I mean, I'm four years old. My dad said, shake hands hard. And I'm going, the guy's killing me here. Look him in the eye. Well, where did they learn that? Well, once you walk into this room. How you doing? What's new? How's your day? Okay. They got it from you.
Finding What Engages You
A passion. I'm talking to my brother the other night. I forgot how funny he is. And he said, Tom, in June, I will have been at the bank. He works at Commerce Bank in Kansas City. I will have been there 34 years. He's 55. And I said, gosh. And then I had this conversation I never thought I'd have with my younger brother. How long you gonna do it? And he said, I don't know, three years, more. I said, what do you want to do?
And he said, I always wanted to deal blackjack. I said, really? He said, yeah, just to engage the people around the table. And I said, here's the problem. Your mind's not, you're splitting aces. Wow, I got to figure this out. Two thirds. And we had this, and he said, or I'd like to attend bar in an airport. Where you're taught. He said, where you talk to people. Nobody talks to anybody.
So all I'm saying is, if I'm disengaged at that level, is to find that passion. My mom was a knitter. She loved to knit. And she loved babies. And they told her they needed booties at Crisis Pregnancy Center. Well, that's all you need to tell her. She was cranking out booties faster than a Chinese sweatshop by the end of the day. She's making booties. There's booties flying all over. I mean, I probably should have said that. In the old days, they're a sophisticated neighbor and trading partner of ours now. But you know what I'm saying? Whatever that passion is.
Expand Your Perspective
Here's the fourth thing. Expand your perspective. Philippians 1:9. And this is my prayer: That your love may abound more and more in
knowledge and depth of insight. Why? So that you may be able to discern what's best and what's pure. Now he's talking here primarily about biblical knowledge. One of my big problems the last year is I haven't been studying the scripture like I should. I have all sorts of explanations for it. The explanations don't matter. I can tell you the fruit of that is that there are times when I feel dry and dreary. I need to understand God's presence and the understanding of that word is one of those.
But I want to just expand it a bit and go to understand the world around you. It's a very different world and in this room many of you are a bit older and you begin to look at the world around you and you even talk in such a way as on this social media and this new stuff. Rather than sit and ridicule it you need to engage in it.
Understanding Our Changing World
Think about grandma, your grandma. I can see my grandma. I can see it in the kitchen. They had a little house. I can see the pressure cooker over here with the steam coming out and I know there's corn in there and I'm on her lap and she had this arm then when she waved goodbye on Monday on Friday it was still shaking down in here. A big old place and if you could get down in there it was the softest skin on the planet and I just remember sitting there and I would have her and she'd tell me stories or she'd talk to me and I'd be rubbing. That's my grandma.
Grandma now, think of grandma now. She's got on skinny jeans standing in line at Coffee Cartel getting ready to order a latte and she's on her phone. It's a different world and you need to embrace it. You need to understand the world around you. Just not fight it.
I'm working on something right now that's been really helpful for me on just seasons of life and the conflict when four people are at a table that are at different seasons of life. You're young and you're ready to go and you're busting it out and you're entrepreneurial and you got this idea and you're some guy at the end of this and you're going you know what? I don't know. I guess. Have you thought about this? What's your performance say? I didn't really run a performance. See how that works?
Rather than just encourage, be wisdom, understand, figure out the world around you and where God would plug you in. Understand the world in which you live in. This is a little soapbox-ish, but let me just encourage you to bring new thought into your sphere of influence.
Breaking Out of Confirmation Bias
Here's what I've found. Everybody that I talk to thinks like me, acts like me, all the Fox News people are over here. All the NPR people are over here smoking weed. No, I'm just cheesing. All the Fox News people are here. All the conservative free-market guys are here. All the trickle-down economics, everybody. We just talk to each other. It's a confirmation bias. We talk with people like us.
That's the hardest thing to do, is to usher in new, not the wholesale embrace them, but to understand there's different perspectives. And I'll give you the last point that maybe you need more than any, and that is, all of that is overwhelming. I can't do it.
The Power of the Holy Spirit
It's the fifth thing. You have the Holy Spirit. Paul writes in Ephesians 3 and he said, I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love surpasses knowledge that you may be filled to the measure of fullness in God.
You have this power that Christ says is the most important power, powerful element on earth, and that's the Holy Spirit. He says you're better off that I, Jesus, leave so the Spirit can come.
The Five-Point Checklist
So now those are five things to think about. I've reduced it to a checklist. Here you go, and you can nail.
Number one, this is the year to find a friend, cultivate a relationship. Maybe it's somebody, and it's generally people that you like and are similar and they're similar, but it's somebody that God's brought in your life, and if He hasn't, then you start to beg Him to bring somebody into your life.
Number two, it's the year to identify one of those constraints and to begin to eliminate it. If it's food, then you need to figure out what you're going to do about it. If it's some excess of booze or drugs, then you need to figure it out. If it's money, and you'll need help in that.
Number three is to find a passion and feed it. Find something, there's a word we overuse, I think we overuse, but probably because it's a good word, find that sweet spot and stay in it the best you can.
The Importance of Reading
Number four, read. And I wrote, read five books. Now every year when I say read five books, I have someone who comes up and says, I read five books a week. Well, good for you. That's why you don't have a friend or a constraint. You need to go back to step one. Now, if you read five books a week, go for it buddy, you don't need me, you don't need this.
But I've had men who haven't read, I think the number I saw, and I won't get the number dead right, but it's pretty close. 74% of college graduates never read another book once they leave school. Some enormous number. You even go, that can't be right. 84% never read a book when they were in school. That would be my guess, but myself included.
But read. But I've had guys, there's one guy in particular, Rob Le Jour. Some of you know Rob. Rob was never a reader. We did this years ago and I was watching Rob the other day as he was introducing somebody and he started talking about the books he read and how he's always reading. You need to be reading. You need to be reading books and not good books, great books. You don't have time to read just everything. There needs to be some thought.
In that. And then lastly, it's to find some sort of activity, probably tying in all these others, some sort of activity that you can get engaged in. I don't know what it is. We have people at Christmas that'll call the church or give us a note, "We want to get involved at the food bank or we want to serve food." Every year we'll then call down and they'll say, "We have all sorts of people at Christmas. People are hungry all year long." So there are all sorts of options out there.
I'm not saying it's that. It may be First Tee. It may be reading to kids. I don't know what it is. But find that activity and get engaged in it. Something to think about as we approach that new year to chew on.
Father, take those words and put them in our heart. We, by nature, are slow often to respond to these things and slow to see them and then when we see them, slow to do them. God, strengthen us in those things that are in the way. Maybe it's our physical condition or maybe it's time and this is the year to get free to have time to do the things we need to do. God, will You do that work in our life. Thanks for the men and women that are here and as we start, literally start the 25th year of Priority Living. God, I pray You bless us. Let us see fruit in the work we do. We pray that in Christ's name, amen.