New Year's tradition

It's around this time of year that I think of Gina. I haven't seen her in years and we rarely e-mail anymore, but she left a lasting mark on my life. I was blessed to have Gina as my mentor during my freshman and sophomore years of college. I wish we could have continued our mentoring relationship past my sophomore year, but the two years I had with her were enough to make a lasting impact on my life. There are so many lessons Gina taught me, but there are two that really stand out. First she taught me that God's timing is a) different than our own and b) perfect. The second stand out lesson was more of a habit.

One day close to Christmas vacation, Gina explained one of her New Year's traditions. Each December she prayerfully chose a verse or passage of Scripture to be her theme for the upcoming year. Then she would pray that verse each and every day for the year, asking God to teach, mold, and challenge her through that verse. (This was in addition to regular Bible study and devotions.) I had never heard of anyone focusing on praying and living out one verse for an entire year, but I thought I was up to the challenge.

That first year, 2001, I chose Hebrews 12:1-3 as my verses.  

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." 

That year was a hard year, but these verses were a true blessing. There were days I hourly recited the part about throwing off all that hinders and the sin that entangles. I needed the reminder to fix my eyes on Jesus.

The second year Ephesians 4:1-3 guided my growing relationship with Christ.

"As a prisoner for the Lord then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace."

I remember 2002 being a difficult, but eventually rewarding year. The daily reminder to live a life worthy of the calling I have received was a challenge I embraced (most days anyway).

In 2003 I spent my days repeating 1 Peter 1:13-16.

Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy."

As you can imagine this was a year of learning obedience and holiness. The words "Be holy because I am holy" resonated within my being, causing me to evaluate much of my life. These are hard lessons, but good lessons. I'm contemplating revisiting this theme or something very similar again for this year.

The following year (2004) I felt I had been given a set of verses from Colossians 3:15-17.

"Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."

I had heard an excellent sermon on these verses in the fall. They stayed on my mind for several months, so spending a year unpacking all they meant seemed like a natural thing to do. It was a year of learning to check my attitude and source of motivation. It was definitely a year of reprogramming my heart to be thankful.

At this point I decided the Old Testament had been neglected. I found a passage in Jeremiah that immediately pulled at my heart. My verses for 2005 were Jeremiah 17:7 and 8.

"But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit."

Immediately I wanted to be one of those trees planted by the water that does not fear or worry during the worst seasons of life. When hard times came that year, I reminded myself that my confidence was in God, so I didn't have a reason to worry or fear. I imagined myself stretching out my roots to the stream and having green leaves. And I still desire to be a tree that does not fail to bear fruit.

After that I went back to 1 Peter (because I love both of the books written by that man), so in 2006 it was 1 Peter 4:7-10.

"The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms."

Loving others deeply was something I had always wanted to do, but was afraid to do. It was during this year that I learned that I'm not responsible for how people respond to my love. I don't desire to scare them off or make them think I want something in return or give men the wrong impression, but I can't let those things become excuses for not showing love to people.

The past two years I have not been as diligent about meditating on my verses consistently, but I did choose verses to guide the year--or so I thought.
I am currently drawing a big huge blank for 2007. I will have to check my journal when I get back to my house. How embarrassing that I can't remember my verse from last year! ***Checked the journals and found NOTHING. Maybe I didn't pick verses for that year. Weird.***

And this year I have tried to live by Philippians 2:3-5.

"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.  Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus."

After being disgusted by the amount of selfishness in my life, I chose these verses as a daily reminder that my attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus. I wish I could say that I have mastered the skills from this lesson, but that would be lying. I feel that I am beginning to consider others on a more regular basis, but there is still a lot of room to grow in that department.

I'll share my plan for 2009 in a few days. In the meantime I encourage you to consider choosing a theme verse for 2009. Anybody willing to try this year long exercise? If you are, leave a message in the comments. I'd love to know what verses you choose to be your theme for this coming year.