As we begin a New Year, many will have formulated their New Year’s resolutions.
Time to lose weight, be nicer to my siblings, getting along with my boss, doing my homework, get those chores done around the house, help Mom with the dishes, working out at the gym... the resolution list can just grow and grow.
Over the years I have learned that my resolutions did not last and eventually came to an end. Nice intent, good idea, but no reality for me.
There is one course of action I can commit to, and I believe all followers of Jesus Christ can also work toward.
As we read the scripture, we read where the Messiah (Jesus) had 12 disciples and these disciples were with Him wherever He went, and in everything He did. They travelled with Him, they ate with Him, rested with Him, rose with Him in the morning, and, in reality, lived their lives with Him.
Jesus was also referred to as rabbi and teacher, and so it is only natural that the disciples were the students learning from the rabbi or, if you prefer, the teacher.
Every born-again believer is also a student and who is our teacher but the Lord. Who desires to teach us every day, every moment, to guide us, to change us, to lead us? Who desires to teach us to love, to give, to forgive, to share, to have joy, to have peace and eternal life with Him?
Who is the same Messiah who taught the 12 disciples and every day desires to teach us?
Every day in 2023 there will be lessons given, there will be homework, and there will be circumstances we are to learn from. There is so much for us to not only learn but to put into practice. We are students in 2023 and we can choose to learn from the Master, the Messiah, the Lord, the Teacher, the Rabbi.
May the Lord bless you and your family in 2023, and keep you: the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace in 2023.
John Grady lives and writes in Fort St. John.
