Albert Einstein in 1947
This Teaching is Part 1 of our Podcast Episode 8. To watch as a short video, click the player above. To watch the full teaching of Episode 8, Click HERE.
So now we come to a new year. How many of you made a New Year’s resolution this year? In praying this week, I really feel that the Lord is calling the Church into a deeper relationship with Him. It’s like the world is getting polarized. I think that a lot of the world is getting further away from Christ, but I also think that the Lord is calling for a pure and spotless bride. I also believe that the Lord is calling for a return to the “fear” of the Lord, meaning a deep respect for His awesome nature and holiness. I also feel the Lord calling me to be more consistent in staying in the Spirit, and I know that if I am feeling that, others in the body are also.
Okay. So let’s talk about the New Year’s resolution that you made last year…How did that go for you? Did you achieve any results? New Year’s resolutions are notoriously short lived. Did you even make it to February, or are you groaning on the inside…Saying Let’s not go there!
Sometimes it is important to use to “put a stake in the ground” and say “from this day forward, I will do things differently! Now, let’s be honest. Is the first day of the year scientifically different than the day before? Did the laws of physics change? No? What about chemistry? No, nothing different there? How about Biology? Did your dog act any different this morning? Your Cat? Maybe because of the weather, but not the new year.
Ah, the weather! So maybe there are some practical reasons that we have a calendar marked off in yearly cycles. It is hard to plant a garden when there is a foot of snow on the ground. Because of the seasons, we have practical reasons to divide time into years. However, this was not Man’s idea.
Genesis 1:14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years,
When the Lord created the heavens and the earth, He created the seasons as well. The very rotation of the Earth marks each day with a new dawn, while providing sunlight for the entire surface of the planet. The Earth’s path around the sun provides a season of growth and renewal that marks our years. And the path of the moon marks our months, not only in the most ancient Jewish calendar, where we are in the year 5769, but also in the Chinese calendar, where we are in Chinese year 4706.
Each culture makes a special observance of the New Year. Western and Christian culture celebrates the new year on January First. The Chinese new year in 2009 is January 26th, marked by the second new moon after the winter solstice.
The Jewish New Year begins on Rosh Hashanah, which is celebrated on the first day of the Hebrew Month of Tishrei. Rosh Hashanah commemorates the creation of man who, according to the Jewish calendar, was created on that day in Year one.
So where do we get the idea of a New Year’s resolution? In the Jewish New Year, on Rosh Hashanah the Ram’s horn, or Shofar, is blown to awaken the people from their slumber. This starts a 10 day period in Judaism where the people focus on repentance, ending on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, a solemn day of Fasting and prayer.
So it is a biblical concept to do some self-examination at the first day of the year, even if we westerners celebrate a different day.
So back to those New Year’s resolutions: Why are they notoriously unreliable? I believe that the most likely answer is that we are insane! Now wait a minute! That sounds a little extreme, don’t you think? Well, that depends on your definition of Insanity.
Albert Einstein defined insanity in this way: Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
Whoa! That explains a lot! Because it is a new year, we make a decision that some aspect of our life needs to change. But often, we do not change any of our attitudes or actions, and in our insanity, still hope that something will change.
I know of people who resolve to lose a little weight, or to quit smoking each new year. Most don’t do anything different, but they still make the resolution every year. I know people who decide to get closer to the Lord, but at the end of the year, they are a little older and grayer, but no closer to God because they changed nothing in their walk with Him.
So changing our actions is obvious, even to Einstein. But where do I get attitudes? The Jewish concept of repentance at the New Year can be carried over to the new testament as well, In the New Testament, the word translated “repentance” is the Greek word metanoeo, met-an-ah-eh’-o; which literally means to think differently or reconsider. That is the real meaning of repentance.
If you want to lose weight, the first step is to change your attitude about eating. Anyone ever watch the show “The Biggest Loser”? It is a reality TV show where people who are hundreds of pounds overweight compete to see who can lose the most weight. The before-and-after shots are amazing, as some people lose over a hundred pounds! The first thing that they do in this game is teach the people how to eat healthy. By changing what they think about food, the correct part of the problem. This combined with exercise leads to the startling results.
Maybe the first step we need to take to reach our goals is to Change our Stinking Thinking!
Next: A return to Reason
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