Happy New Year!
At the beginning of a new year, many people like to make resolutions about what they might want to achieve for the coming twelve months. It’s not a bad thing to have goals and aspirations, but many New Year’s Resolutions never make it past the end of January. (How many have you broken yet?) We might as well call them New Year’s Good Intentions and leave it at that! More about them in a minute.
About two months before Christmas, our family got a new addition: a puppy. If anyone has been to our house recently, they will have been greeted by Jack, the golden retriever puppy! When he came, I realised that this puppy stage is not going to be for very long and we need to enjoy it as much as we can.
That made me think about how sometimes a puppy is a gift given at Christmas. We all know the phrase: A dog is for life not just for Christmas. At Christmas we celebrate the coming of Jesus into the world. However, how many of us just leave it at that? Jesus is for Christmas, but not for the rest of my life. In just the same way that a puppy is for life, Jesus is for life, not just for Christmas.
At the beginning of a new calendar year, why not take Jesus with us and allow him to be part of our entire lives? Why? God loves you and has an amazing purpose for your life. So, instead of only thinking of Jesus at Christmas, why not try thinking about him the whole year long? Let’s throw away the New Year’s good intentions and take up Jesus instead.
Have a blessed, Jesus-filled 2019.
Ian McManus,
West End Baptist Church
