“All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring
I love traditions that brings back memories. One of those traditions for me is rewatching all of the Lord of the Rings movies. The Fellowship of the Ring came out in 2001, I was a freshman in high school. Whenever one of these movies came out, my dad, brother and I would go to the movies to sit and watch together. The movies and that time quickly became some of my favorite. I took it a step further though…..ever December 16th, after 2003, when The Return of the King came out, all my high school buddies would skip school and end up at Tim’s house to watch all of them in row!! Every year, 12 hours of Middle Earth on December 16th. I continue the tradition today as every year, towards Christmas I will embark on a journey of now 6 movies in Middle Earth. Even this year, I told Amanda that I had to finish the series before the end of Christmas because I won’t watch them again til next year…..she laughed and allowed me to finish them!
The idea of traditions is one that we all look for in lots of different areas of life. Whether it is a ridiculous one like my obsession with Middle Earth, or maybe it is a vacation that you have been taking with friends for years or a trip that you and your spouse take every year. Maybe it is a tradition for your child’s birthday or maybe its a certain birthday. Traditions are all over the place and can look incredibly different for all of us.
There is a tradition at the turn of every year that most people will make, whether serious or funny. But the tradition is to set…..New Years Resolutions! Or I think the trendy word right now is setting new HABITS. Whatever you want to call them, the tradition is the same.
It is a new year, I should put something into practice that I did not do last year or
was not good at and I want get better.
Each year, there are goals set for weight loss, exercise, spending less time at the office, actually using the vacation time that you have earned, and spending more time with loved ones. Maybe some of us make dedications to go back to church or read our bibles more or pray more or pray with our spouse more. Can I challenge us this year to create a new habit or maybe bring one that has been hiding for a little while back to the forefront of our weekly routines?
Come and Serve.
Many of the habits or resolutions that we set at the beginning of the year are personal. Never a bad thing to have personal goals, habits or resolutions. But what if we change the narrative and begin a new habit that is centered around others.
Reading our bibles is incredibly important for our becoming like Jesus.
Praying more and with those you love is incredibly impactful.
Journaling your thoughts and questions can bring clarity and insight that you may have not had before.
Going to church to worship and listen to a message is a huge part of our discipleship transformation.
All of those things are great, but they are for you. Maybe down the road others will benefit from these things that you are working on. But what if you add in the ability to grow in your becoming like Jesus with other people?
When we serve, not only do we get to be the hands and feet of Jesus to those we serve, the Holy Spirit does something in our hearts that we can feel and it changes us.
Mark 10:43-45 is one of my favorite scriptures in the bible. Jesus, sitting with his disciples, the 12 that were with Jesus during all his ministry except the end…. that’s a different conversation…..and Jesus giving them instruction, hard instruction. He ends the instruction with a reminder and a concrete truth that brings more meaning to when we serve:
” But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first must be a slave to all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and give his life as a ransom for many. ”
Our Lord, our Savior did not come to be served, which he should have been, but to serve, those that did not deserve or earn it, by loving them and healing them, and pointing them to something to hope in.
When we serve, we bring that same hope and the same love, and same healing grace that all of us crave and never deserve.
One aspect of the Lord of the Rings movies that I love is when you see Bilbo writing his book, then handing it to Frodo when he is done and saying the blank pages are for you. Then when Frodo is done, he gives the book to Samwise and says the same thing, that the blank pages are for you.
Our lives can be written like a book. Each year a new chapter. So now with the pages still almost all blank……
What will you write in the blank pages for 2023?