By: D. A. Slinkard
The end of the year is upon us, and the only thing you can do now, in 2019, is reflect back on what your successes were and what your failures were. We all have things that went well in 2019 and things that did not go as we had hoped for. If 2019 was a rough year for you, the good news is the year is about to flip over to 2020. If 2019 was a good year for you, the good news is the year is about to flip over to 2020. You read it right, good or bad, bad or good, the year is about to flip over to 2020.Are you ready? Are you prepared? I believe people think they are ready, but when it comes time for the rubber to meet the road, this is where the friction happens. Many times people sit on the sidelines waiting for life to happen. You have just a matter of days to get your mindset right for 2020. What are you going to do about it? If this past year was a good year, how are you going to build off it leading into the new year?
These are valid questions that many times we forget to answer. Oftentimes, we do not even think about them when we should use this time of the year to focus in on becoming better in the new year. Some people do not want change, they like the way things are and despise change in their life. I think about water — if it stays the same for too long it becomes stagnant. We see this in all phases of life, and we need to make some waves.
I am not talking anything radical, but we all personally need to look from within and ask ourselves, “What else?” What else can I do to make myself better, my community, those around me? Too often, we want to focus on what is in it for us, but if we would just turn our focus around and direct it towards others, we could make some serious change for the positive.
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results. If you have been getting negative results with your living, just stop. Stop doing what you have been doing and change your thinking. My life changed when I realized I was a sinner on my way to Hell. This realization is very sobering, especially when we live in a time in which people think the God of the Bible will conform to their lifestyle. We live in a time in which people think of God only as loving and will not judge them.
News flash — Psalm 7:11 tells us that, “God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day.” We need to chew on this for some time and maybe realize our lifestyle is not so pleasing to God. It comes down to four simple principles. The 1st principle is we are all sinners on our way to Hell. The 2nd principle is that because of our sin nature there is a penalty to pay for the sins (crimes) we commit. Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death…”
The 3rd principle is God sent His only begotten Son to die on the cross and pay the sin debt for everyone. Not the elect, not the few, but Jesus died for everyone. He died on the cross at Calvary, he was buried, and three days later he arose from the grave. This is the Gospel. The 4th principle is to put our trust in Jesus Christ. Romans 10:13 says, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
If you want a spectacular 2020, put your trust in Jesus Christ. We try to evaluate a person’s success by what they have and do not have, but we judge on material things when we need to judge based off spiritual matters. Do you believe a person CAN KNOW when they die whether or not they will go to Heaven or Hell? If you would like to know how to get to Heaven, I offer this invitation so you can write me an email to da.slinkard@gmail.com. I want to help show you so you can get it settled. Someone may be reading this article doubting me, and that is okay because I put my trust in Jesus.
By: D. A. Slinkard
