“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18 NIV)
This seemed an appropriate verse to mark the end of a year that was full of trouble that seemed far from “light and momentary” for most of us. Who could have imagined the economic, political, and social havoc that a viral speck would wreak on our world when 2020 began?
I am grateful this morning for those who continue to fight on the frontlines in the battle against this pandemic that continues to rage as we enter a new year. I am also grateful for the vaccines that have given us hope for an end to it. But I am most grateful this morning for the eternal hope that I have in Christ Jesus “into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade.” (1 Peter 1:4) This is the living hope that will sustain us through whatever trials 2021 might bring.
As the sun sets on another year, my prayer for you is the one offered by Paul in his letter to the Colossians. May God “fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.” May you “live a life worthy of the Lord” and may you “please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.” (Col. 1:9-12 NIV)
If my posts in some small way assist you in that, may all glory be given to God, without whom I could write nothing of consequence.
Happy New Year to you all.
“I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:13 NIV)
Lakeside Reflections 