Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours forevermore from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I am pleased to welcome you to this new year, year 2024. And I pray that God will fulfil every good thing He has in mind for you in the year, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Of first importance, we ought to give thanks to God for the privilege of witnessing this new year. There were some who desired to witness it but who are no longer here with us today. And that is not because they were the worst among human beings. It may be because their time was up or because Satan succeeded in getting them to die before their time or because they exposed themselves to God’s judgment for wasting His grace over their lives. Whatever the case may be, what is clear is that we are alive to witness this new year because God has chosen to favour us and to give us more time to live to bring Him praise. And that gives us enough reason to be thankful to Him.
Now my admonition to you, as we begin our journey through this new year, is that you should give yourself to doing whatever good work God has assigned for you to do, regardless of the attitude of those in your world to you and what you are doing. Why? It is because it is by doing every good thing He wants you to do just the way He wants you to do it that His glory will fully manifest through what you have done. And that, of course, is when you too will fully receive your reward.
For instance, it was after Noah completed the task God had given to him to build an ark that the rain that destroyed the world of his time came. And that was also when he and his household were separated from the wickedness that had made that world an unsafe place to live in. But then, Noah had to build the ark according to the directives God had given him. Otherwise, even though he and his family had entered it, they would not have been saved after all. So, doing all that God wants us to do is not enough for us to experience His glory, promotion or salvation. We also have to do everything according to His will. Otherwise, there may be no profit for us at all for doing His work. (Cf. Gen 6-7)
Also, as we see in the bible, it was when Moses completed the task of building the tabernacle of God, just the way God had told him to do it, that the glory of God came upon it. His glory did not come upon it until it was completed and completed according to the will of God. So, the reason you have not experienced the glory of God as you should in certain areas of your life may just be that you have not done all that God requires you to do for that glory to manifest or that you are not doing what He wants you to do according to His will. If you will get busy, then, to do all that He requires of you in accordance with His will, you will surely witness the full manifestation of the glory that ought to follow. (Cf. Exodus 40)
But then, we must also keep in mind the fact that we may be discouraged from carrying out and completing the tasks God has given to us by those around us. For example, their unbelief or hostility may want to discourage us. Remember that when Jesus went to His hometown, He could not do many mighty works among them because of their unbelief and hostility. In fact, the bible says that He was amazed at their unbelief. But did He allow that to discourage Him and keep Him from continuing the task God had given to Him? No! Instead, He continued to go around to teach and to heal from place to place. That was because He knew that He must finish the task God had given to Him, whether people welcomed and believed in Him or not. (Cf. Mark 6:1-6)
Apart from the hostility or unbelief of men, their ingratitude may also want to fill our hearts with discouragement and keep us from carrying out and finishing the tasks God has given to us. For instance, on one occasion, it was only one out of certain ten lepers that Jesus had healed that came back to thank Him. And He was surprised that the remaining nine people did not come back at all to just say ‘Thank you sir’. But did He allow that to discourage Him and keep Him from healing others who came to Him? No! Why? It was because He knew that the one that would ultimately thank Him for all He was doing was the one who sent Him, that is, God. (Cf. Luke 17:11-19)
In like manner, even if people reject us, abuse us or fail to appreciate us for what God is doing through us this year, we must not lose heart and abandon His work or righteous living. Instead, we must make up our minds that we will take advantage of His grace to do everything He wants us to do in the year in accordance with His will for us, regardless of how people relate to us. That way, He will be able to fully accomplish His will through us and we also will be in a position to be rewarded by Him. And my prayer is that you will be strengthened to act according to these words in living for God and in serving Him this year, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Happy new year.
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