Here we are---The very last day of 2020. Approximately 19 hours away from a new year. Funny how one day follows another, yet it is man who marks them for times of celebration. Marks them as days to remember. We celebrate birthday's and anniversaries, but time keeps moving forward. Tonight there will be celebrations all across this world. People are anxious to put 2020 behind them, yet they move into the new year with all the baggage they picked up during this past year.
I take comfort in the words from Matthew 28:20. Jesus reminding His followers that He would be with them....That He would be with them Always. That He would be with them always, even to the end of the age.
They did not know what the future held...what might be out there waiting for them. But those words could be taken to the bank (so to speak). Jesus would always be a real presence in their lives. No matter what happened, He would never leave them. How could He make this claim? Because Jesus was going to ask the Father to send the Holy Spirit to fill, surround, guide and direct those who were His own. In other words, the events of this world had no bearing on how the disciples responded, because they listened for the Holy Spirit.
Maybe we should take heed of this and follow their example while we hang on to the promise made by Christ. The promise that He would be with us always, even to the end of the age.
What about this Corona Virus? "Lo I am with you always..."
What about the election? "Lo I am with you always..."
What about the economy? "Lo I am with you always..."
If this is really true...I mean a blue-light-take-it-to-the-bank-true...then should we not stake our very lives on this promise? I think maybe yes is the answer. So maybe, just maybe this is the year of not fearing. Maybe this is the year of not doubting. Maybe this is the year when we fall upon God's truth and move forward from 2020 as a people who has gained a "spiritual back bone" and declared that we will not cower or draw back from 2021 and what ever it holds.
Oh yeah, there are some verses that come before the promise of Christ being with us always.....
"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit...Teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen!
Happy New year...and God on you...
Michael B
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