December 30th, 2025

Hi Friends,

Wilberforce was persuaded to give himself fully to Jesus Christ. It was no casual commitment.

Why hadn’t any of his friends, instructors, or tutors taken him aside and told him he was on a dangerous path? He put this question to Frewen (an old Christian friend and Cambridge instructor): Would not the golden rule have prompted you to use towards me the language of a friend, if not of a father? (My natural father I lost when eight years old, and my grandfather and uncle soon after I went to Cambridge.) Ought you not to have urged me to … consider what must be the issue of the course of life I was pursuing, and of the choice I was making of associates and friends?

(William Wilberforce: A Hero For Humanity; Kevin Belmonte; 11, 42)

 As we close out another year, it’s always a good idea to take stock before making plans. As I look back on this year, I’ve lost a number of friends — not forever, but to this life — and none of them expected that this would be their last year on earth on December 30, 2024. We are all “a vapour that appears for awhile and vanishes away.” That, alone, ought to make us circumspect. Would these friends have “planned” differently, had they known their hourglass was soon to be emptied?

If you want to take stock this year, what might you evaluate? Here are a few questions you might consider:

1.     Have I given myself fully to Jesus Christ or is my commitment “casual”, an option when I feel inclined or when I have time?

2.     Is the course of life that I am presently pursuing what God desires for me? Is there anything I need to change?

3.     With whom do I associate most? Are those associates having a positive or negative influence upon my life?

4.     Are there any non-Christian people in my life? Am I concerned for their eternal destiny enough that I am praying for them regularly and looking for ways to engage with them?

5.     How can I use my gifts and become a more active part of the local body of Christ with which I fellowship? What can I do to make the lives of my leaders a blessing as opposed to a burden?

6.     Might there be one or two things which the Lord wants to teach me in 2026 or might there be one or two things to which he wants me to give more focused attention?

7.     How have I seen God’s hand at work in my life and how has he loved me in 2025?

As Ebenezer Scrooge discovered, our future is not fixed. We can change. We can grow. But to do that, we must take a serious look at who we are and who we are becoming.

Blessings!

Doug