It's Time To Hit The Refresh Button

It is unbelievably the last Thursday in January! How did the month fly by so quickly? At the beginning of January, I wrote about how our purpose in Christ is not meeting all our worldly goals, checking our tasks off the list, or completing everything in a timely and perfect way. I look back at this month and am so thankful that God laid that on my heart to begin 2023 with because I have definitely needed grace this month.

I began my new year with not any major resolutions but with a few minor changes I wanted to make in my life. One was for my physical health and the other was for my spiritual health. I’m going to be kind and say I have seen better displays of commitment in my lifetime. Not only have my two resolutions been very sporadic in doing them, but I have also given myself excuses for my behavior and have told myself this is alright. Here it is the end of January, and earlier this week I hit a refresh button.

Notice that I did not give up completely, I simply restarted.

In our Christian walk, we will have mess-ups. We will dig ourselves into a pit of sin, climb our way out of it by the grace of God, and fall back into the same pit a week later. That’s just how our human nature is. We are far from perfect and if you wake up each morning expecting perfection, you will be disappointed by breakfast time.

Even Peter, who was an eyewitness to Jesus Himself, knew that he needed a refresher on the gospel. He knew that he could get caught up in the worldly desires around him. He knew that he was close to death. He could have gotten caught up in fear, sadness, distress, and anxiety about what was to come, but instead, he reminded himself of who Jesus is and what was promised to him.

My mind easily gets off track and out of focus. I quickly become disgruntled, selfish, prideful, and discontented. When I’m too busy, things aren’t going my way, or when I’m simply tired; my mind can take me further south than I’d like to be. I look at the negative instead of the positive things God is doing in the midst of my downfall.

Just as athletes need constant training, Christians need constant reminding of Jesus’ promises to us. Athletes must continue to work hard, train, and push themselves so that they cannot only execute the fundamentals consistently but also so they can better themselves. Christians need to persevere in hard times so we can grow in our walk with Christ. Christians are called to mature with Christ, not to be bored, impatient, or give up on the messages and the fundamentals of the Christian life. Instead, we need to take on the attitude of an athlete. We may have bad practices and we may not win every game, but we will push ourselves to continue on and to grow towards Christ no matter what.

Peter was martyred in A.D. 68 through the means of upside-down crucifixion. Jesus warned Peter of his death when He was alive. Knowing this was coming would have put me on a track that was headed straight to Fear Land, but Peter stood firm in Jesus and reminded himself of everything He saw when Jesus was alive and everything He knew was to come through Jesus’ promises. Peter hit his refresh button.

No matter what may lead you off your walk with Christ, I pray you always look up and find your path back to Jesus. You may feel like you have gotten off course so much that you cannot find your way back and maybe it would be best just to give up, but God is ready for you right where you are. He knows what you set out to do, He knows what got you off track, and He knows how your story will end. Trust in Him, lean on Him, and run back to Him. It’s never too late.

Digging Deeper:

What areas in your life do you need to hit the refresh button?

What makes you fearful about starting over?

How can you trust God in every aspect of your life?