HE IS WITH US
By Diane Faison-Mckinzie 2022-2023
“Get rid of all the sins you have done and get for yourselves a new heart and a new way of thinking”. That is from Ezekiel 18:31. Couldn’t we use that as a guide to starting our new year coming up, in 2023? “Yes, the years 2020 through 2022 have been a test of our faith, and our health”. I think this epidemic has forced us to get a new heart and forced us to think differently about ourselves, our families, and others.
As we leave the old year behind, with all the horrors we never expected to endure, let us learn from what we have experienced. I think we have learned that we truly now understand that, tomorrow is not promised to us, and we have been forced to learn a new way of thinking. As we are given a new day, our new way of thinking should encompass not wasting any time of the day, whether it is spent in prayer, doing something for your neighbor, calling someone to let them know they are thought of, volunteering at some organization that helps those in need, and many other things.
I think as stated in Ezekiel “a new heart” is an accurate statement which I believe means a “new you, ”. What if you could consider setting a weekly Christian goal for yourself? This small effort would be a start in creating a “new you”. One week, my Christian deed turned out to be, putting $20 towards the grocery bill of the person behind me in the grocery line. Something as simple as that has made me one step towards me becoming a new person. In the year 2023, it is my hope that I will continue to grow in my new way of thinking. Let 2022-23 be your year of Christian love, understanding, giving, and prayer.
We really don’t know what the new year will bring, but we do know for certain we can bring God into it. “Do not fear....When you pass through waters, I will be with you” (Isaiah 43:1-2). I am certain that 2023 will be filled with uncharted waters, it can be disquieting, we don’t really know what will happen or what storms may come, but we must try to remember He (GOD) is with us. Whatever the new year brings, we need to thank God, because in all things HE is with us. Let us rejoice, being able to see a new day and a new year that will soon be upon us, that God is with all our new days and our soon-to-be new year.
