You are invited…
Welcome to 2023.
We are about 12 days in.
How is it going for you?
Did you make any resolutions or goals?
Honestly, this is the first year in many years that I haven’t.
Normally, I would be kicking off some kind of diet re-set.
I decided not to this year.
At the tail end of December, I came across a scripture in Matthew. It literally jumped off of the page in my face.
Surely, I had read it many times before, but this time it hit different.
“Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.” Matthew 24:35
I stopped and read it again.
Then, I took a deep breath and looked up from my Bible.
My coffee cup, steaming with coffee, the blanket wrapped around my cold legs, the kitchen table in the distance…
All of it…will be gone.
One thing remains..
God’s Word.
I thought about my day and what I had on my calendar.
Am I living life like this is true?
What am I focusing on?
What am I distracted by?
Does the Word of God play an active role in my everyday life?
Desperately, I want it too.
However, life gets busy. It gets messy. It gets crazy. It gets HARD.
Our focus becomes these little distractions that constantly pull at us day in and day out.
Before we know it, our prayer life is a distant memory, and our Bible reading is as well.
Our peace dissolves.
Our relationships collapse.
Our families hold on by a thread.
We become decision fatigued. So. Many. Decisions.
We begin to take the wider path because, well…it is just easier. And everyone seems to be on it.
I want to encourage all of us…
Let’s let 2023 look different.
Let’s go back to His Word.
Let’s go back to making time for Him.
Let’s be intentional about pursuing Christ, not just at Easter and Christmas.
This world needs Jesus. We need Jesus. Our marriages need Jesus. Our children need Jesus. Our neighbors need Jesus.
And we may be the closest thing to Jesus they will ever see.
I will be honest and tell you that 2020 was a doozie for us as a church going family.
We literally just stopped going for a long time. We did watch online pretty regularly, however, we needed fellowship with other believers. We needed to stand shoulder to shoulder with our kids, our spouses, our church family.
We needed cooperate worship. It STRENGHTHENS us.
If you have children, I encourage you, mother to mother, to get your children in church.
We have this small window…
I can tell you, I have two children ages 21 and 18.
The window of time is narrow with them.
The foundation is so important!
When your babies go to college and flee the nest, they will be hit with the world. They will be hit with sin, temptation, lust, rebellion, lies, professors and roommates and friends and relationships that openly defy and rebuke God’s word.
We need to build them up on Truth. On God’s Word. On the foundation of Christ.
It is never too late to begin laying that foundation. God is merciful.
If your children are already grown, start praying for them like their lives depended on it. Because, well, their lives do depend on it.
Our families need our prayers more than ever.
Our families need mothers that fall to their knees daily, lifting their children to the Lord.
This world is cruel. It is evil. It is hard.
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” John 10:10
Reading God’s Word, assists us with our prayers. It gives us wisdom that we so desperately need.
I began a reading plan last year that I absolutely love in this season of my life.
If you don’t have a plan already, check this one out…
https://lp.billygraham.org/daily-bible-reading/
You have to enter your email address and it will send you a one year plan.
Start small if you are new to reading the Bible.
It is not the amount that you read, it is the heart behind the reading.
It is the intentionality, and the time it takes to seek Him. Surely, it honors Him and pleases Him to see us desire to know Him more.
“For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12
If you have fallen away, or if you have yet to begin to know Jesus in His Word, this is your invitation.
Let’s do it together.
Hand in hand, heart to heart, side by side.
back in the saddle,
jill
