Burn the Ships
by Brian Collier
How many of you have made New Year’s resolutions? The real question is:
How many of us have already blown those New Year’s resolutions?
I have read that, in America, 25% of us discard our resolutions by the end of the first day. Change can be so difficult that even people who want to change will most likely fall back into old patterns and not make change permanent. As long as the option to turn back is there, some will inevitably choose to do so.
In the year 1519, Hernán Cortés arrived in the New World with six hundred men and, upon arrival, made history by destroying his ships. He burned and sunk them in the harbor right in front of his men. They had already threatened mutiny if he did not take them back to Spain. This sent a clear message to his men: There is no turning back. Two years later, he succeeded in his conquest of the Aztec empire.
This is the kind of mentality we need to have when we think about moving forward in our own lives. There’s no turning back. We’ve come through so much in the past two years. God has given us an incredible opportunity to grow as individuals and as a body of believers. Why would we even consider going back?! Deliberate living requires that we model the behavior of the Apostles and take steps to live out a godly life. We can shake free from last year’s chaos and turmoil and move forward with new purpose and determination in this new year. There’s no turning back.
In the Bible, Paul writes to the Philippian church: “But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ”
Paul had everything going for him from a human point of view—he had it all. But all of his knowledge, wealth, or good deeds could not bring him closer to God. Once he became sanctified, Paul had to change his perspective—to reframe the things he thought were important. He goes on to say that his new goal was “to know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable to His death.” But to do that, he had to forsake his past. Old friends, old habits, old temptations. He had to burn the ships and leave it all behind. Like Paul, we can forget those things that are behind and “press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”
2022 is here. Do you need a closer walk? Do you need a rededication, a renewal of purpose? Are you not as close to God as you want to be? You can change the pattern! Turn around—refuse to go back. Don’t be like Lot’s wife yearning for the old life when God is trying to move you forward. Begin today and make resolutions that take you from where you are to where you should be going. Be intentional about the steps you’re taking towards the future. No matter what, refuse to let anything pull you back. Walk in the freedom and newness that comes from a life following Jesus.
Burn those ships.
Happy New Year!
