As our year rapidly comes to a close, so does our theme for 2018 that has centered around our growth as Christians. On numerous occasions throughout the year, a word has emerged, that seems to play some significant role in that growth and it is momentum. Consider this definition, the quantity of motion of a moving body. If you are like me when seeking to achieve something, the initial surge comes reasonably easy to me: the challenge is keeping it going over the long term until completion is accomplished. What hinders you from your journey? What causes you to lose momentum?
After giving this some thought, I realized that momentum is less about the external and more about the internal. David, in Palm 51, would word it like this, “Make me hear joy and gladness, that the bones you have broken may rejoice” (Psalm 51:8). David’s momentum killer was unresolved sin in his life. This tremendous burden can weigh a person down, robbing them of life and hindering them from any personal growth. David’s sin was easily recognized. Some sin though, is not so easy to spot and those sins can be rooted in complacency. Proverbs 1:32 in the ESV says, “For the simple are killed by their turning away, and the complacency of fools destroys them.” I wonder if that was what caused David not to go to war with his fighting men? I wonder then, if complacency has more to do with loss of focus, which seem to be the issue with the church in Laodicea in Revelation 3:15. Listen to this verse, “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot.” I can be so busy (works) and satisfied with those things I have (Revelation 3:17), that I lose focus of those things of God. Such sin is difficult to see with clarity; nonetheless, it has its ability to stifle momentum. Whatever the sin may be, overt or obscure, it hinders the growth of Christians.
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit with me.
Psalm 51:10
Psalm 51 is about repentance and repentance is about getting back on track, spiritually refocusing our lives to be lived for God. It begins with the heart! David wanted heart surgery because he knew he needed it. He writes, “Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me by Your generous Spirit” (Psalm 51:12). David needed to reconnect with God if momentum was to be regained. If you don’t believe me, listen to the very next verse, “Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners shall be converted to You” (Psalm 51:13). His efforts to work for God was intimately connected to his relationship with God.
May each of us be sensitive to the condition of our heart, the inner part of mankind that is the life force of all that we say and do. May we be aware of the ease to which one can become complacent, even in a busy, chaotic world. In so doing, may our God create and maintain within us a new heart, enabling us to continue the momentum of glorifying Him in all that we do.
Dennis
