(Movie still from "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe," 2005
It’s almost New Year’s Day. That magical time of year where we all start making resolutions…to promptly forget them in about two days. It’s a time-honored tradition: there’s even a study that says that January 17th is the longest people usually make it!
But this year, I want to challenge you. No, not on going through with your resolution. Well, not exactly. There’s something else that you can do in preparation for the new year.
Starting a new year is not just about beginning new things. New habits, new people, new jobs or so on. The new year is also closing the old. And, truth be told, we’re all probably holding onto some old baggage that we should toss out. Not just on New Year’s Day, but every day.
We all have some kind of sin, some kind of past, some kind of regret, some kind of mistake, some kind of attitude that cripples us. It lurks in the back of our mind like a wolf pacing about in its cage, ready to devour us should we let it out. To defeat this wolf, it takes intentionality. It takes dedication, a resolve to say: I know where you draw your power from, and I will not let you steal mine. Because where that wolf draws its power from is not God. But God does have the power to overcome it. After all, John 16:33 tells us to take heart, because Jesus has already overcome the world. If He can conquer the world, He can conquer the wolf inside of you.
Take a moment and think about what you’re running from. What you see in your life that you wish you didn’t see. The things that come between you and God.
The pride. The deceit. The selfishness. The manipulation. The anger. The lust. The drugs. The need to fill yourself with things that are not God, to stuff the hole inside your heart with wealth, with experience, love—anything. All these false idols.
I could prattle on and on for days. But reminding you of the wolf isn’t the point of this devotion.
No, it’s defeating the wolf in the year to come.
This is a battle you have to go into. This isn’t something for the faint of heart. First, you must take the armor: the Armor of God.
It’s found in Ephesians 6:13-18.
“Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.”
We must take the truth, because the wolf likes to lie. It draws its power from the lies that it tells us: that we need this, that we are not this or we are too that. We must remind it that: God does not love us for what we are, but for what we aren’t. God was already aware of our wolves and sent Jesus anyway. He sent Jesus because of our wolves. He didn’t ask us to change on our own. He sent Jesus so that we wouldn’t have to. Remember Romans 5:8: “But God demonstrates His love in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
We need righteousness to combat the unrighteousness of our wolf. We need to know what is right before we can identify what is wrong. And we must make a commitment to do what is right before we have the strength to give up what is wrong.
And we need the Gospel, the Word of God, to hold us together. We need the Gospel to remind us of Jesus, to give us strength and understanding. There’s a song by Switchfoot that goes like this: “I’ve got my vices, I’ve got my vice verses.” Listen to that one more time: “I’ve got my vice verses.” For every wolf that we have—every vice—there is a verse to combat it. There is a Scripture that God will use to pull us out of the muck we’re in and put us on higher ground. But if we never open up the Bible, then we’ll never know our vice verses.
We also have to have faith that there can be change. Faith that God is enough. Remember the parable that Jesus taught, about how when we get rid of one demon it will only come back and bring even more friends if we don’t fill our head and soul with Him? (Matthew 12:43-45) If we don’t fill our hearts with God, with more faith, then the wolf will come back with a vengeance. It’s kind of like the Terminator: “I’ll be back.” We must make sure that when we kick the wolf out, we let God in.
Don’t forget salvation, either. We can’t change the old man without remembering the new man that we have become. 2nd Corinthians 5:17 reminds us that when we confess, repent, are baptized, and receive the Holy Spirit, we are new creations. We are no longer just ourselves, just the people we were before, but we are new. We’re ourselves but clothed with Jesus’s righteousness, with His salvation. What was impossible before becomes possible, if we’ll only listen to the Holy Spirit and follow His prodding and instructions.
Let’s not overlook verse 18: prayer. Prayer is so important in this fight. We must pray intentionally. We must pray fervently. We must pray for God to help us put down the wolf in our head. Nothing will change unless we invite God onto the battlefield.
So go ahead and identify the wolf in your head. Call him out. Invite him to do battle, if you will, because now, you’ve got a sword. Over this year—over ever year—in every month, on every day, with every passing hour, minute, second, heartbeat—make a purposeful effort to force the wolf to lay down his weapons.
I will lay down my false idols. I will lay down all the heavy, perfectionistic expectations I have for myself. I will lay down the names I call myself, the labels I give myself. I will surrender them to God, and by surrendering, I will fight.
And God will help me slay the wolf.
The song for this devotion: "Burn the Ships" by For King & Country
Let this song encourage you in your fight. It will be hard, but God will fight for you and with you. He will go before you and conquer the enemies inside of you. And once you make your choice to fight, do just as this song says: burn the ships...and don’t look back.
