Luke 2:43 After the festival was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it.

IN YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD

I welcome you to a brand new year. Just like every other year, this year will have 8760 hours, 525600 minutes, 31536000 seconds, 31536000000 milliseconds, 12 months and 365 days.

You have another stretch of time to journey through life differently. This year, I want you to live intentionally. Yes, intentional living is the key to maximizing the year and the opportunities in it.

The starting point of intentional living is in your relationship with God. In previous years, you paid lip service to your walk with God but this is the time to take seriously and be intentional about your spiritual life.

The story of Jesus and his parents will serve as a figurative illustration for this teaching. They went to Jerusalem for feast of passover.

After the whole feast, they returned to base but they were surprised that Jesus was not with them having journeyed for three days. They returned to Jerusalem to look for Jesus and they found him conversing with teachers of Mosaic law.

The opening text renders the situation as though it was Jesus that intentionally stayed back in Jerusalem. It wasn’t really so.

According to Ellicot, a bible scholar, he opined that it was the neglect of Jesus’ parents that made him stay back in Jerusalem because It was customary for children of his age to learn from teachers of the law for the period of seven days of the feast.

Other parents would have sought for their children after the feast was over but Jesus was left behind by his parents. It took them three days of journey before they discovered he wasn’t with them. They weren’t intentional about having him on the journey until after three days.

Don’t start the journey of this new year without Jesus. Be intentional about your prayer life, bible study, church attendance, fasting and other spiritual exercises that makes for growth.

You cannot afford to journey this year like you did in previous years without a solid relationship with your maker. God must be first in all you do. Don’t run the race of the year and later remember you left God behind.

In previous years, you sought his face only in times of trouble having taken the wrong step and walked your own path. That has to change now. God want a relationship with you not just some “I need help” relationship.

You will take a lot of life changing steps this year some of which may include: marriage, ministry,change of Job, traveling and engaging in business transactions. Being led by God is an offshoot of consistent international relationship with him.

Do nothing without asking for direction from him. He knows the right path to follow in any of these. Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths”.

For those that are saved, that’s a vital way to engage God in the journey of your life this year. Do nothing without him.

If you don’t have Jesus in your life, you can invite him to be part of your journey this year and forever. He is ready to journey with you if you invite him. Invite him into your life by saying praying below:

“Father, I know I’m a sinner. Forgive me of my sins. Write my name in the book of life. I’m inviting Jesus to be the Lord of my life. I believe he died for me and resurrected for my sake. I confess him as my Lord and personal saviour. In Jesus name.”

Happy New Year!!!