Reflect, Refocus, and Repent

The end of a year and the beginning of a new one always gives us an opportunity to take a pit stop in life. We can take time to reflect on the previous year. We can look back on the joy of victories and the agonies of defeat. We can look back at times where we trusted God and times where our faith was lacking. We can look back at the times we obeyed the Lord and times when we did not.

And, as we reflect, by God's grace, we will be driven to refocus.. To refocus on those things that are most important. Those things that are worthy of our time, energy, and pursuit. The most important thing to refocus our attention on is Jesus (Revelation 1:1-20) and our relationship with him.

In Revelation 1, there are at least 15 reasons to refocus on Jesus and our relationship with him at the end of 2013. Jesus is:

• The faithful witness (5)
• The firstborn from the dead (5)
• The ruler of the kings of the earth (5)
• The one who loves us (5) 
• The one who freed us (5)
• The one who made us a kingdom of priests (6)
• The one who reigns w/ his Father in dominion & glory (6)
• The one who is coming again (7)
• The one who is the alpha and omega (8)
• The one who was and who is and is to come (8)
• The one who is the first and the last (17) 
• The son of man (12-16)
• The one who has died and is living forevermore (18)
• The one who has the keys of death and hades (18)
• The one who is Lord over the church (20)

After we reflect and refocus, there is the grace of repentance. In 5 of the 7 letters to the churches in Revelation 2-3, the way for each of the churches to return and refocus is through repentance. Some people don't like to talk about repentance. However, Jesus says to the churches and to us personally, that the way to life is through the door of repentance. 

So, as we begin 2014 in a couple of days...reflect, refocus, and repent.

Happy New Year!