Make the Rest of Your Life Different

by Andrew Cromwell

Every day is an opportunity to define the rest of your life. Many of us feel that we have already made mistakes that can never be repaired and that have defined our lives. Sometimes we feel trapped and powerless, stuck in our life and condemned to a future that looks like the past. But this just isn’t true. There are so many examples of people who have been right where you are and have changed. They have changed their outlook and their choices and by doing so, they have also changed their future.

It always starts with one decision and it always starts right now.

How will you live the rest of your life? What will define you next month, next year or ten years from now? Will you be moving and growing or will you stay stuck? 

The Apostle Paul says in Ephesians 5:15, “be careful how you walk, not as unwise…but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil.”  We are surrounded by plenty of evil.  We are more then familiar with its results. The question is how will we walk in the midst of evil surroundings. Will we be wise or will we be unwise?

Here are a few simple truths that can keep us on the right track and help us live the rest of our life with great success.  I must warn you, these are not easy or feel good truths, but they have the power to transform our life if we allow them. If you want to live a different tomorrow, start these things today and you will see the results.

First, pay up.  Romans 13:8 says, “Let no debt remain outstanding.”  We all know that in America the national pastime has been the acquisition of more and more personal debt in order to pay for things we want but can’t afford.  Now that all that has come back to haunt us, we are once again learning the hard lesson that debt does nothing more than make us a slave to the lender.  This year, make a decision to pay your debts — get out from under that credit card debt, sell the car and dump the car payment and make some wise spending decisions.

Second, build up.  After Romans 13:8 says to let no debt remain outstanding, it says “except the continued debt to love one another.”  There is a debt that we all owe and that we can never repay.  That is, the debt to Jesus Christ for loving us unconditionally and for offering us a way out of our self-imposed exile from Father God.  Because of what Christ did for us, we now have an obligation to love and build up our fellow human beings.  If we can realize that life is not about us but about building other people up, we will discover true success.

Third, we must wake up.  Romans 13:11 says, “The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber.”  Many of us have fallen asleep spiritually.  We have allowed the things of this world, the pursuit of money and the rat race, the toys and trinkets and all the mind-deadening entertainment escapes to lull us into a spiritual slumber.  It’s time to wake up!  The truth is, God has a plan for your life!  He has great things that He wants to do in and through you, but only if we will stir ourselves out of our stupor and get back on the track of life and light. 

So let me encourage you, start the year out right and make a commitment to get out of debt, live to invest in others and to pursue the things of God.