Time to make some new resolutions so we can have a memorable and holy 2024.  Let’s start by reflecting on what God truly wants from us in this New Year.

Did you know that God is jealous about His people?

We were created to live in a sacred intimacy with God where nothing and no one could separate us from God’s love.  That was and continues to be God’s divine plan.

God wants to help us with our problems and God Himself has a plan for each of us:  “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah  29:11

The sacred intimacy that God desires with us requires several key ingredients from us:  trust, time, prayer, knowledge and understanding, repentance, love, passion and obedience.  The question is will we give God all of these things in the coming year?

TRUST

There cannot be true intimacy with God without a deep unwavering trust in Him.

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.” Proverbs 3: 5-6

No one feels intimacy with someone that they don’t trust.  God desires our complete trust in His love, in His mercy, in His power, in His justice and in His continuous intervention in our lives.  God desires only to help us, to give us hope and a future, but that plan is jeopardized by our unwillingness to trust in Him and to give Him the time and devotion that He deserves.

PRAYER, KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING 

God wants to communicate with us and in prayer we not only speak to God but we listen to God.  God will speak to our hearts and God will teach us His Way if we are willing to invest time reflecting on His Word as spoken in The Bible.  As we read the Holy Scriptures we know that God is speaking His Truth and His Will to us.  Our Lord Jesus, true God and true Man, finds many ways to speak to us, but that only happens in a bond of sacred intimacy where we trust in Him and when we are striving to remain in His Presence reflecting on and embracing His Holy Will moment-by-moment.

REPENTANCE

Jesus is ready to forgive all who have sinned…and that’s all of us.

“If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”  1 John 1:8-9

LOVE, PASSION AND OBEDIENCE

“For the grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to all people.  And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God, while we look forward with hope to that wonderful day when the glory of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ, will be revealed.” Titus 2:  11-13

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters” Colossians 3:23

“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”  Matthew 6:24

To serve God we need knowledge and understanding about that which God wills and the first thing we need to know about God is that God calls us to love–to love Him and to love one another.   If we want to have that which God desires to give us, sacred intimacy, then we need to invest time getting to know Him and that can only happen if we listen to Him by reading His Word in the Bible.

God will put us on a path that leads to Heaven but that will only happen if we trust in Him and invest time with Him, communicate with Him in prayer and start listening to Him and learning from Him.

Jesus says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Matthew 11: 28-29

Anyone who is not obedient to Jesus has not yet fallen in love with Jesus.  Passionate people are committed and they do what they need to do to accomplish their goals.  Consider the athlete that wants to compete in the Olympics:  how much are they willing to sacrifice to get there?

God is a jealous lover because He desires to love us and be loved!   He does not want us to be focused on pursuits that do not honour Him because our destiny is to give Him glory and to be with Him forever and this eternal destiny can begin today, right now.

Jesus gave so much so that we can be together forever; Jesus suffered so much to open the gates of Paradise for us.

Let’s not keep God waiting?

We need to be with Jesus right now!

Let intimacy with God start today.

Trust in Jesus!

Let Jesus be the center of your life!  Give Him special time through prayer and reflection on His Word and receive Him in the Sacrament of the Eucharist and let Him feed you and pray that God gives you the gifts of His Holy Spirit.  Our knowledge and understanding of His will are gifts of His Spirit.  Our intimacy with Him requires an investment on our part to spend time with Him, to learn from Him and to study His Word, but we will NEVER be obedient to Jesus until we become PASSIONATE about Jesus!

For me, my PASSION for Jesus was born at the foot of His Cross.

I invite you to do this small thing and know it will change your life day after day!  Every day at 3 pm ( (3pm is the time Jesus died for us on the Cross) stop wherever you are and see Him, your Saviour Jesus, nailed to His holy Cross for you and me and when you begin to truly see Him in agony, know that that pain is for you.  That’s how much He loves you!  Nothing will be able to compete with the love of Jesus for you.  Jesus is a jealous lover because He loves you so much that He would die this brutal death by crucifixion for you!  Will you give Him the sacred intimacy that He desires?  Will you Trust in Jesus and dedicate your life to Him?  May the coming year be a year of special intimacy with Our Lord Jesus who desires to help each of us become people of great integrity and righteousness.

And if 3pm locally is not a convenient time for you to stop and remember the Lord’s Passion, then pick another time zone and enter into a special intimacy with Jesus who died for you and me so that one day we can be together forever in Heaven.