Evaluation Time

The New Year is just over two weeks old. So how are you doing with your "resolutions?" So much of knowing where to go is tied into knowing where you have been. The Bible provides a wealth of principles to guide us in evaluating our lives and setting new directions for our future. With that in mind let me share with you just four of these principles that I recently shared with a group of men in our church.

Biblical Life Evaluation

1. Measure the times.

1 Chronicles 12:32 (ESV)

Of Issachar, men who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do, 200 chiefs, and all their kinsmen under their command.

2. Measure your friends.

Proverbs 19:20 (ESV)

Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom in the future.

3. Measure the cost.

Luke 14:28–29 (ESV)

²⁸ For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? ²⁹ Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him,

4. Measure your devotion.

Jeremiah 17:7–8 (ESV)

⁷ “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,

whose trust is the Lord.

⁸ He is like a tree planted by water,

that sends out its roots by the stream,

and does not fear when heat comes,

for its leaves remain green,

and is not anxious in the year of drought,

for it does not cease to bear fruit.”

I would note that principle 4, Measure Your Devotion, is the heart of the matter. Do you trust in God? About everything? All the time? The picture is of a person who is like a lush growing tree. When the heat of summer comes and everything turns brown, this person remains green. I promise that at some point in 2011 you will feel the heat. And you'll either wither or thrive and it will all be based on your devotion to God. And here's the cool part. When you bear fruit, you're not the only one that benefits. Fruit is for the enjoyment of others. When you trust in God, others will be blessed because of you. Your spouse will thrive, your kids will be blessed. See how it works?

So two plus weeks in to 2011, it's not too late to plant yourself next to the River.