Dear BPCWA worshipper, I’m sure I will not be an exception when I say “another year has passed so quickly!”. Like the majority of you, I will now have to get used to writing 2023 instead of 2022. Without argument, time is one of the most precious resource that God has given to us.  Time marks our life. Our life span is marked by the day that we are born and ends on the day we die. The period between these two dates is the available time that we have. Time and tide wait for no man. A minute that has passed is gone forever. If so, then we certainly must make use of this limited time in the best possible way. As Christians, we must not simply pass our time like the world – just to eat, drink, and be merry. Instead, we should measure ourselves by how well we have spent our time, or our life, in God’s eyes. Because God is the Giver of our life and the Giver of our time.

How to reflect on 2022? Of course, the first reason for looking back is to give thanks to God for what He has done for us. It is to praise Him for his Providence so that we can live the future with greater gratitude to God in our lives as evidenced by our actions and choices. Looking back is also a time for reflection. As we think back on the experiences He has brought us through, it should give us a better understanding of Him and cause us to grow in our experiential faith. Very often, by looking back, perhaps not just for one year, but through several years, we can even see how God has worked all things for our spiritual good (Rom 8:28).  With these eyeglasses of faith, we can look back on even the seemingly unpleasant things in our life, examine them, and see the good that He has worked out of them. Such reflections will cause us to be stronger Christians in our walk with God in 2023.

How well did we spend 2022? As we enter the new year, let us also pray, “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts” (Ps 139:23). Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to us things that have grieved God in 2022. Just because no or minimal harm has arisen from our sins in 2022, it does not mean that it is alright to continue in it. It is just simply “the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering” and His purpose is that His goodness “leadeth thee to repentance” (Rom 2:4). In 2022, have you grown more holy or more unholy than in 2021? Did we seek to know Him as we ought to, communed with Him without ceasing, served Him with diligence, i.e. have we loved Him as we should have?

How do we want 2023 to be?  While a minute passed is gone forever, yet God constantly gives another minute for us to use for the better. What mercy! In 2023, let us do better and not waste another year.1) Deal with the sins which the Holy Spirit reveals. To improve ourselves for God, our starting point must be from taking stock of our past year. If we have let sin linger in our lives for too long, then we must resolve to get rid of it in 2023. Repentance is not merely saying sorry to God. Genuine repentance is accompanied naturally with fruits of repentance. Do not let another year or even a day pass without wanting to deal with it. Do not be soft and give excuses for your own sin. Call sin for what it is – sin. Start the change in January 2023! A good and right start by the grace of God is usually half the battle won. Delays only cause apathy. How should we bear the fruits of repentance? Think of what changes in your life you will need to make happen so that you will not continue in that sin. Prayerfully set a plan to make those changes happen rather than just hope that it will happen by chance. Each time you fail in the plan, do not give up. Get up and persevere by God’s strength. Do not continue to hurtle down that path of sinful destruction simply because the consequences are not major or if there were no consequences. God could make 2023 that year of victory and growth. Or it may be the last year of God’s warning and longsuffering before the consequences come and they may be so great that they are irreparable. 2) Live out the Word of God. Resolve not to be just hearers, but doers of His Word in 2023. Our Counsellor will speak to us through His Word through the year, His counsels are always to help us fulfil the purpose for which He came to save us. He will show us wherein we must grow in 2023. It could be a need to be a better witness, to live more as a stranger and pilgrim, to be less materialistic, or to have the mind of Christ, to serve more fervently, to give up certain hobbies or friendships that you know have held you back with God, etc. In 2023, pay greater attention to how the word of God points out certain things in your life and how you must change henceforth. Map out areas in your life that you will change in 2023. Resolve how and when you will do it. But do all these, not trusting on your own willpower, but prayerfully dependent on God to see you through them as you perform your human responsibility. 3) Live as how you want to meet God. Have you ever thought that 2023 might be your last year? How would you spend today if you were told that today would be the last day of your life? Even for the Queen of England, however long the years of life, the time does come to an end at God’s appointment and that end may be sudden. When that life ends, we will stand before the Holy Judge of heaven and earth. At that time, we must give an account of what He has given us. Is there anything in your life that you know is not as it should be by God’s standard? As long as we have another minute, deal with our sins because it is too late when our time ends on earth. Have you been squandering the extra precious time that He has given to you? Have you been using what He has given you for yourself and the world’s glory instead of for His glory? Have you held onto and even nursed a pet sin that no one may even know (but God always knows)? Have you been slothful in studying the Bible and serving Him? Don’t think that there will be another “next year” because that “next year” may never come for you. Do not procrastinate. 4) Make it a year of spiritual growth. A child of God that does not grow spiritually is a sick child. I ask again, how much have you grown in the knowledge and grace of your Lord in 2022 compared to 2021? Let us all resolve to do whatever it takes to grow in 2023. It could be closet prayer that we have been lacking. Or it could be carelessness in reading God’s word. Or a coldness of heart in the Lord’s work. Or a lack of care for the brethren. Decide today, pray for God’s help, and go forth to make that change happen today.

Today, as you read this, you know the year has dawned. A year of life has passed. Are you truly sure that you are saved? Be sure by turning to Christ today in repentance and ask Him to forgive and save you. For the believer, I hope that you and I will not be so foolish as to just read this and acknowledge the truth in it but do nothing about it. The loss is not on God’s side but is fully on your side. His desire for you to grow is for your own eternal benefit. Life is a privilege that God gives to us to be able to use for him. It is the most meaningful and eternally rewarding way of using it. Time is the resource He gives us to achieve it. May this year be used for Him fully. We have 365 days to use for Him this year. At the close of 2023, if we should still be alive, how many of those days would have been spent for him?

Yours in our Lord’s service,
Pastor