New Year, New Hope

The New Year brings about many new hopes and changes for many people which is great because there is no time like the present to make things better. As Christians, regardless of how far in our walk we are, we should desire to do as Christ instructs. It’s not about perfection but genuine faith as perfection is not possible but with that said, we should be strong in our faith as we know not the time nor hour we will be taken or when Christ will return.

Romans 11:13 reads “And that, knowing the time, that now [it is] high time to awake out of sleep: for now [is] our salvation nearer than when we believed.” Although we do not know the time or the hour in which Christ will return, we do know that the time is getting closer and closer and we should be excited and energized in this fact. This should make as more committed and devoted in our walk with God and in this, we should recognize that simply doing Christian things does not mean that we are not sleep walking.

In case I have lost anyone, it’s important that we wake up and be alert for Christ. Think about all the people you know who call themselves Christians and while most of them are probably legitimate, not all of them are and the actions of their heart will show this. Think of the many Catholic priests who have used their position to abuse their power or the small town pastor who took from their flock as a way to get ahead. It’s important to remember that one can claim to be for God and do Christen things but still be asleep towards God: “The night is far spent, the day is at hand : let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light” Romans 13:12).

Christ wants us to do our best and to walk uprightly and with dignity and this is where many people lose sight of Christ. Many claim that they are too far away from Christ so they are not able to come to Him but this is a trick of Satan. Christ would rather a man who is flawed and knows it come to Him than a man who claims to be perfect and puts on a show for the crowd to mislead people because a flawed man on fire for God does much more than a snake in the grass: “Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strike and envying” (Romans 13:13). In other words, come as you are to Christ as God wants a pure and sincere heart who desires Him despite the flaws.

Each and every character in scripture had at least one thing in common: they were flawed. Each and every one of us is flawed but Christ is not focused on our shortcomings but the sights and focus of our hearts and if we seek Him, we will find Him and when we do, we are transformed: “Therefore if any man [be] in Christ, [he is] a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). When we are in Christ, we truly shine and people can see God in us which is what we are instructed to do: “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).

In this New Year, despite where you are or any shortcoming that you may have, forget about it. Give it all to God because we are made new in Him. The old things are no more and we do not have to live in these things or compare ourselves with them: “Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old” (Isaiah 43:18). Christ came as a man, like any of us, and lived as any of us and faced the same trials and tribulations despite being royalty and gave His life so that each of us could have a new beginning: “And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:8).