Happy New Year!
A new year, a new day, a new hour. A time to leave behind the old and forge ahead to what God has in store for us this year. It’s also a reminder of how fast time goes with each passing year.
Psalm 39:4 says, “Lord, help me to know how fleeting my time on earth is. Help me to know how limited is my life and that I’m only here but for a moment more.”
This lines up with where we are at in the Hebrew month of Tevet, which involves the reviewing of education. A better way to put it is a re-evaluation of what we want to impart to the next generation. This challenges us to be intentional about our lives and to reflect on the legacy we will leave behind. Will it be one of faith?
2 Tim 2:1-2 says, “Timothy, my dear son, be strong through the grace that God gives you in Christ Jesus. You have heard me teach things that have been confirmed by many reliable witnesses. Now teach these truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others.”
We don’t have to be teachers, parents or coaches in order to teach. We all have a life to share, which influences others, regardless of our age. However, every so often, we should evaluate what is important enough to pass on to others. Jesus did this very thing right before He laid down His own life for us. He imparted to His disciples what was important because He knew they would need encouragement, guidance, and direction.
“I love each of you with the same love that the Father loves me. You must continually let my love nourish your hearts. If you keep my commands, you will live in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands, for I continually live nourished and empowered by his love. My purpose for telling you these things is so that the joy that I experience will fill your hearts with overflowing gladness!” - John 15:9-11
So I give you now a new commandment: Love each other just as much as I have loved you. For when you demonstrate the same love I have for you by loving one another, everyone will know that you’re my true followers.” - John 13:34
So as we embrace the year 2021, may we do it with a new fervour.
I beg you—I, a prisoner here in jail for serving the Lord—to live and act in a way worthy of those who have been chosen for such wonderful blessings as these. Be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love, (especially toward those who may try your patience.) Try always to be led along together by the Holy Spirit and so be at peace with one another. - Ephesians 4: 1-3
Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.
- 1 Corinthians 13:3
AMEN