The Editor’s Desk by Shawn McMullen

Heavenly Father,

The New Year
Seems like a good time
To think new thoughts
And make new plans.
With your blessing,
That’s what I’d like to do.

My first request
Is that you change my heart
And renew my mind.
I want to die once and for all
To the pride and arrogance
That stalk my spirit
Like hungry lions.
I want to lay aside
Self-promotion,
Self-protection,
Self-preoccupation,
And the peaceful co-existence
I have shared with them
For years.

Direct me in the pursuit
Of holiness and integrity.
As vital as they are,
I still manage
To tuck them away
Out of sight and out of mind
When it’s more convenient
To act apart from them.
Never again, Lord.

Teach me to love
The things you love
And to hate
The things you hate.

Fan into flame
My concern for the lost—
My zeal for evangelism
At home and around the world.
Let this be
The “one thing I do”
For the rest of my life.

Give me wisdom
To stand for the truth
So I will not be misled
Or misunderstood.
Help me take my stand
With a gentle spirit
That will, all by itself,
Point people to you.

Increase my love
for your Word,
O Lord.
Draw me ever closer to you
In the pages of Scripture.
May I never forget
That time spent
Reading your Word
Is time spent
In fellowship with you.

Keep me from turning grumpy
Or cantankerous
As I grow older.
Instead, transform me
Into your likeness
With ever-increasing glory
As time goes by.

I’m a few years past
The half-century mark
And sometimes I fear
My best days are behind me.
Change my way of thinking, Lord.
When all is said and done,
May it be said of me
As it was said of a former servant:
“The Lord blessed
The latter half of Job’s life
More than the first.”