Hello dear friend,
Greetings to you in Jesus name
It gives me a great pleasure to write the thing that the Lord has laid on my heart now, I believe that this would be the last blog post of 2018.
How was 2018 for you? I guess there were lots of ups and downs but the good news is you made it to the end and when you look back at this year, your heart would be filled with thanksgiving and praises to God. If it was not for God, you wouldn’t have made till the end!
Personally God has indeed been so good, so faithful, so gracious, so merciful, so generous, and so loving…… and He continues to be who He is, His attributes won’t change, I am so proud to call Him my Father!
Well, we are in a season of celebrations, we all have finished celebrating Christmas few days ago and now we and the whole world is preparing to enter into the New Year.
Everyone in the world will celebrate it without any discrimination of sex, language, region, caste, religion and colour.
Everyone has a different way of welcoming and celebrating the New Year. I don’t want to tell which one is right and which one is not, but I have a thought I feel like sharing with you today.
Recently, on 25th of December everyone (most of them, even if you don’t celebrate Christmas you might have wished someone) throughout the whole world celebrated Christmas.
People have painted their houses, cleaned it like never before in the year, went to church to attend a service, had a Christmas tree in their houses (or office), brought a new pair of clothes, treated someone, invited friends and relatives house for a meal, gave gifts to the loved ones………
Wow that’s a great way to celebrate the birth of Jesus but not many know what the New Year is!
It’s not just a change of the year or the change of a calendar, or change of the date…. There is much more to it.
What is a New Year?
Eight days later, when the baby was circumcised, he was named Jesus, the name given him by the angel even before he was conceived.
Then it was time for their purification offering, as required by the Law of Moses after the birth of a child; so his parents took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord.
The law of the Lord says, “If a woman’s first child is a boy, he must be dedicated to the LORD.”
So they offered the sacrifice required in the law of the Lord—“either a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.” Luke 2:21-24
New Year is the day when Jesus was taken to the temple and was set apart to the Lord according to the law and was presented to the Lord. This is the New Year!
Many celebrated Christmas, which is the birthday of Jesus Christ without Jesus the birthday boy/Man Himself; and as you are about to enter into the New Year, are you entering into the New Year without following the example of Jesus Christ by offering yourself as a present to Lord and dedicating (rededicating) your life to your Creator?
Dear friend, I encourage you to turn from your way that are not pleasing God and not pleasing the people around you and turn to God, your Creator; and present yourself to Him in a way that is pleasing and acceptable to God.
When you enter into the New Year this way, you will see God taking your life and bringing the best out of you that will be for your benefit, people around you will be blessed and God will be glorified in and through you.
Before I conclude, I want to wish you a Blessed New Year 2019.
God bless you,
With much love,
Jeevan & Leena
