{"id":1433,"date":"2014-01-08T09:00:47","date_gmt":"2014-01-08T15:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mtvpastor.com\/?p=1433"},"modified":"2014-01-08T09:00:47","modified_gmt":"2014-01-08T15:00:47","slug":"the-biggest-resolution-you-can-make-this-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/newwineskins\/the-biggest-resolution-you-can-make-this-year\/","title":{"rendered":"The Best Resolution You Can Make This Year"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"Next-Steps\"<\/a>Sometimes we think we know something to the point that we ignore the basic instructions. A few weeks ago I was putting together a trampoline for my boys as a Christmas present. Since I\u2019d done this thing a couple of times before, I regarded the directions as optional. Bad mistake. After spending a few painstaking hours setting up the frame and pulling ninety-six springs nice and taut, I was finished other than attaching the safety net. With the last trampoline, that was as simple as attached six clips. With this trampoline, however, I found out I was supposed to thread all ninety-six springs through the safety net before<\/strong> I attached them. Two hours later, I\u2019d taken the trampoline apart and put it all back together for a second time. Later on I found that this critical piece of information was sitting in the instruction manual, written in bold even for idiots like me. All I had to do was look.<\/p>\n

When it comes to our Christian faith, we think we\u2019ve got it all figured out. We\u2019ve been in church and around Christians for so long, that we assume we know what we\u2019re doing. But when is the last time we actually looked at the basic instructions?<\/p>\n

16\u00a0As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. <\/b>17\u00a0\u201cCome, follow me<\/span>,\u201d Jesus said, \u201cand I will send you out to fish for people.\u201d <\/b>18\u00a0At once they left their nets and followed him\u00a0<\/b>(Mark 1:16-18). Jesus uses the phrase \u201cfollow me\u201d twenty-two times in the gospel. If you want the basic instructions of what it means to be a Christian, this is it.<\/p>\n

Notice what Jesus doesn\u2019t say here. He doesn\u2019t say:<\/p>\n