Make the most of 2018

Christmas is over, and we have now moved into the New Year of 2018. The first few months, or for some perhaps only the first few weeks of the year, are set aside for looking over the past, mapping out the coming year and then making resolutions to try to make the year ahead the best one yet. The year will gallop ahead again and the resolutions that we make will soon be far behind us. It is good to try to make the most of each day as it comes, but how can we really make the best of each day and the year?

I have been thinking recently about a verse in the New Testament which says: ‘we have been made alive in Christ and that we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do the good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.’ (Ephesians 2:5,10). We remember the birth of Jesus once a year and we look at our lives once a year, but surely instead we should be taking the opportunity to decide every day to be alive as we were created, and to complete the good works that were made to do in advance.

Day to day I get to meet with people from all different ages and walks of life. We human being are constantly looking at how we can be alive in our different situations and how we can do the good things that we were created for. In today’s world, we can get bogged down with not being good enough, not doing or saying the right things, not being perfect enough or even following the latest life style trend. This can be true across all generations, but especially for those that have been brought up with the perfect picture, the perfect lifestyle and the latest fashion. All of this can be great, but then we can lose the true meaning of what is means to be full which is only found in the kind of daily life that Jesus led….a life that was not fake, but was truly human and real like you and me. To live a Jesus life day by day is the best kind of News Year’s resolution!

In my role at St Peters as ‘Youth and Outreach Co-ordinator’, it is a privilege to work with everyone from all ages, and over this year, as I look towards 2018, I am currently making a plan about how I can help better our community of Bishop’s Waltham and Upham and each of you. It is a plan for each day to help bring fullness to life, and something that can bring courage, love and hope to all generations.  The plan is to share a way of living modelled in the person of Jesus that can help each of make the most of each day, each year and the whole of life. So I look forward to seeing you in the New Year, to see how I and other local Christians can be there for each of you.

If perhaps you would like to spend a bit more time thinking about how to make the most of 2018, you would be welcome to come on the Alpha course we have starting on Wednesday 17th January 2018. Alpha is an opportunity to ask and talk about questions we may have and to explore how to make the most of our life. Later in the magazne you can read about the story of Simon who found the Apha course a very helpful way to re-orientate and to make the most of life. For further details, please do pick up a leaflet, or look on our facebook page @StPetersBW or on our website www.stpetersbishopswaltham.org.uk

With my prayers and blessings for 2018

Lizzie Davidson Youth and Outreach Coordinator

Posted
1st January 2018

Filed under
James' Blog