Here we are on the final day of the year. The final minutes of 2023. It was a bumpy year. It wasn’t as bad as the roller coaster years of 2020 and 2021, but it still had some bumps. I lost my sister, Lisa, this year. We also lost some precious friends this year. Lost, as in we don’t have them with us, but not lost lost…because we know where they are. They are not lost at all. Each of these dear ones I believe are in heaven now, possibly getting to know one another, but for sure they are rejoicing with the King of Kings. All of these, I know for sure, had asked Jesus in their heart, to change them, guide them, and forgive them during years long past.
Still, knowing that, with confidence, I struggled with the emotions around the holidays. If you know what I mean, you know what I mean. And if you don’t know what I mean, you haven’t been there yet. You haven’t had the emotions of missing someone deeply, the regrets of things left unsaid or undone, the sweet old memories that bring tears to your eyes, the emptiness at the dinner table, the embroidered stocking sitting empty, the awkwardness at a meal with three close friends suddenly instead of four.
So, it has been both sweet and bittersweet with the emotions swirling and with my red, puffy eyes. The sweetness comes from the fact that I know that they are happy where they are, without pain for the first time in a long time for many of them, and fully complete. They wouldn’t want to come back to this world. That doesn’t mean that they didn’t love or care for their family and friends, it just means that heaven is so glorious that finally feel “at home.” But, I guarantee that each of these would want each of us to know that Jesus loves them and wants to forgive them and to change their life and that they prayed that for us.
As we close the books on 2023 and look towards 2024, may be each take an assessment of our lives. Join me as I evaluate what I need to focus on in 2024. If you have never invited Jesus into your life, now is the time. Start the new year afresh. It’s not enough to pray occasionally, or read your Bible or a Verse-of-the-Day from time to time. It is not enough to go to church off and on. Jesus wants a relationship with you. He won’t force you, though. He waits for you to reach out to Him, to invite Him to come in to your life, to guide you, to forgive you of the things that you’ve done that are against God’s plan for you. Invite him to change any part of you that doesn’t match the way He created you to be. Ask Him to help you be consistent with the things you are trying to change. Ask Him to lead you to a Bible-believing church. Ask Him to help you guide your family in the right way.
You can do hard things…with His help.
Pray about all these things. Then watch what He does. God is in the business of making crummy things sparkly and new.
Happy New Year!