Recommitting Ourselves in the New Year

Some of us sorrow because we have failed Jesus.
Some of us don't want to have anything to do with Jesus, because the demands are too difficult.
But most people, even Christians, misunderstand what Jesus calls us to.

When we agree to follow Jesus, we commit to become a student. When Jesus called his disciples to follow him, he was in a centuries-old tradition of calling students to learn and then follow his way.

Jesus' final exam was his arrest in the garden, which all his students failed, because they did not study (pray).

Yet all of his students but one passed the class. This is because Jesus knew that his class continues on for an entire life. The only students who fail are those who drop out.

Following Jesus isn't a commitment to be perfect, or a commitment to reach a certain standard. It is a commitment to learn from Jesus, every day, how to draw on God's resources to love better. As long as we remain on the path, we will still be able to learn. 

And we can't look at another student in the class, demanding that they measure up to our standard. They are just in a different place in the curriculum.

Let us determine not to judge the other students in the class.
Let us not judge ourselves because we haven't learned enough.

But most of all, let us renew our commitment to draw on God's resources

     to love those around us

     to follow Jesus more thoroughly this year.