How many times have you said, “I’m tired of the way things are going, I wish things were better”?  Well, before you can embark on a NEW journey, you must stop the one you’re on.  But as creatures of habit, we are hardwired to resist change.  But we must all realize, change for the sake of change CAN be foolish and dangerous. For example, if you tell your kids to only play on the sidewalk, and you wake up one day and decide you want to change things, and tell your kids to play in the freeway, well, you can see that kind of change is setting you up for disaster.  So we must consider if “change” is going to be for the greater good or not.

The Lord Jesus said in John 10:10, The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. Did you notice that part about “life more abundantly”?  Many of you are living lives that are FAR from “life more abundantly”.  In fact, it’s more like day after day your life and your spirit have been killed, stolen, and destroyed.  And unless YOU make some changes, your new year will bring in a continuation of the same old things that you’ve wished would end.

Some are caught up in addiction, and they use that addiction to try to escape the reality of their lives.  Feeling powerless to change, they continue in the same destructive habits year after year, and like any farmer knows, if you keep planting corn, you will continue to harvest corn.  Feeling powerless to change is one of the biggest cripplers in the world.  I’ve talked to people who hate their job, wishing they didn’t have to work there anymore. But they fail to realize that they are not chained to the workplace, they are free to quit and get a job elsewhere.  Many complain, but few actually do anything about it.  I’m here to tell you today, you CAN change!  How?

First it takes a decision to say “OUT WITH THE OLD”.  Until that decision is actually made, there will be no way forward.  Being willing to WANT to change is not enough!  You must actually initiate change.  Until you are so dissatisfied with your present situation that you are willing to step outside your comfort zone, nothing will ever change. That makes you captive, not by someone else’s decisions, but YOUR OWN!   Here all the time you may have been blaming someone else for your unpleasant circumstances, when it has really been your own choice to stay in it.

I remember years ago how I hated my job, but felt trapped in it with no way out.  You know, bills to pay, a family to support, you just don’t quit a job foolishly.  I also had a part time job on the side because my main job didn’t pay enough. So working extra hours enslaved me even more, and that only made things worse.  I really enjoyed my part time job, being self employed fixing furniture.  I always loved fixing things and had a real talent for it. But it didn’t bring me in much money.  It was a no-brainer to keep my regular job, even though it made me miserable.  But one day, enough was enough, and I resigned to pursue my job fixing furniture.  Do you know in the first month doing what I really loved, I made twice what I was making before?  Only it wasn’t a job anymore, it was “life more abundantly”, as every day was a joy instead of a job.

That business gave me all the work I wanted, gave me the ability to choose what jobs to take, and which one to pass up, and being my workmanship was so good, I could literally name my price and get it.  Yes, it takes real discipline to be self-employed, and it isn’t for the lazy or undisciplined or the unmotivated.  However, the sky is the limit if you’re willing to work for your dreams.  Looking back on my life, I should have left that other job twenty years sooner perhaps, there would have certainly been less stress in my life.  That one hard decision made a HUGE difference in the quality of my family’s life.  Like I said, it’s one thing to WISH, and another thing altogether to DO.  But until you take action to change the things you don’t like in your life, you are doomed to keep repeating it until you kick the bucket.  And that isn’t “life more abundantly”, is it?

You need to ask yourself today, “Am I willing to keep living like this the rest of my life?” If the answer is NO, then you need to ask yourself another question: “What am I going to do about it?” Most people’s answer is “NOTHING”.  I can’t help you then.  But if you are “fed up with being fed up”, then today is your day.  Here is what will totally turn your life around, and it’s FREE!  It’s necessary to do first things first.  In order to have that “life more abundantly”, you must have access to its source, and that is CHRIST JESUS OF NAZARETH.

No doubt, some of you are already saved, and yet your life is not “life more abundantly”.  How can that be?  Well, just because something is available to you, does not mean you have it.  Sometimes we give our heart to Jesus, and keep our will under our OWN control.  And “life more abundantly” doesn’t work like that, because you will make many decisions on your own without asking the Lord Jesus what you should be doing, and that will lead you down the wrong path.  Many people go down that path, and then actually have the nerve to blame God because their lives are NOT “life more abundantly” like Jesus said He came to give us.  Let me give you a clue here:  YOU are not the source of knowledge and wisdom, God is.  If you aren’t asking God each and every day to guide your path, then you are guaranteed to miss out on God’s best.

Let’s assume you see the error of your way here. TODAY is the day to say “Out with the old, in with the new.”  TODAY is the day to give Christ Jesus the complete leadership of your life.  TODAY is the day to start your journey into “life more abundantly”.  There’s an old saying, “If you always do what you’ve always done, you will always get what you’ve always got.” And that’s a true saying, and you’ve seen the results of it.  TODAY, right NOW, get on your knees and tell the Lord Jesus you’re ready to leave the low road and take the high road following Him.  Oh my, what a change He will make in your life for the better!  What are you waiting for?

Life more abundantly is waiting for YOU.  But first? Out with the old!