Time for 2017

I have shared on Facebook my theme for 2017, but for those of you who are not my friends on Facebook, I want to share it and unpack it a little. My theme for this year is "Make Much of Jesus". It's not original or cute. Steven Curtis Chapman wrote a song about it. You can hear it here. It may not be original, but it's meaningful. I want to share what it means to me and I hope you can join me in this year to make much of Jesus.

Much has been made of lots of things. Much was made of this election this past year, and it was a very tense political season. People went into deep mourning and depression when Hillary lost. Some of us would have been in a pretty deep depression if Hillary would have won. It has really divided the country, which was already divided. Pipelines and terrorists and debates about whose lives matter. Police shooting civilians, police getting shot and people were angry. Those who are not angry are offended and voicing their offense. Everyone is mad.

People are hateful. If you have been on social media for more than 30 seconds, someone has taken a shot at you. I have been forced to change my blog comments so they no longer allow anonymous comments. The only comments I get is people hiding behind anonymity to take a shot at me. At least tell me who you are when you tell me I'm awful. Don't be rude and a coward, that's just sad. It goes farther, people create fake facebook profiles just to bully and harass people. How sad is that, as a society we have begun to create false identities so we can hide while being cruel.

People are scared. We are scared of the future, scared of each other, scared of the unknown. The world is in bad shape with terror and economic instability the future looks uncertain. The cost of living is rising faster than the increase of wages and the government seems to be getting larger and making things worse. We are freaked out about what is happening in our world and we are feeling overwhelmed.

We have made much of the problems, much of the pain and suffering. We have made much of so many things that we are suffering. We need to change focus and make much of something better. It can't be another person, they will fail us. It can't be a thing, it will break and rust. Money gets devalued and is fleeting. We will be failed, abandoned or hurt by everything in our lives. Everything and everyone except Jesus.

I will have to have another back surgery most likely. I am struggling financially because I've been off work. I'm not looking for sympathy because many have it so much worse. I have problems, you have problems and life is hard. The only way life makes sense is to look through the lens of what Jesus is doing. Jesus is the answer to the deep, longing and nagging questions. Jesus is the hope, the proof, the answer and the goal. If we make much of Jesus, we can make less of the struggle and the pain and the deep ache. Make less of me, make less of you, let's make much of Jesus.