Love and Hope for the New Year

As one year draws to a close and the next is awaiting just around the corner, so the TV screens, magazines and newspapers carry features about all that has happened in the preceding twelve months. As the current year draws to a close there is an added dimension, for they are looking back over the first decade of the new millennium as well.

Now, don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with looking back! In doing so it's possible to relive the good moments and be reminded of the things that needed to be put right as well. It's a time to reflect on what achievements have made the world a better place, and what has worsened because it has not been addressed.

Unfortunately there is far too much that has not been addressed in our society, and as a result we have seen an dramatic increase in hate crime. We read of teenagers carrying knives and guns, either to protect themselves from other like-minded young people or to threaten others with. We hear about young lives, both victims and aggressors, wasted on the streets by killings. Drug-taking is constantly increasing, and many of the idols that young people look up to are known as much for their drug-taking as their ability in their particular occupational field.

The good news is there, however, because of an amazing act of love. The good news is that God loves each of us, even those who choose to deny His existence. God's love is selfless and unconditional. This means, dear reader, that He loves you. He is a personal God, not some distant figure who looks down on us, demanding that we worship Him and yet not interacting with us.

Because of His love for us He sent His only son, Jesus Christ, to come with a message of hope and reconciliation. That message is as it always was, for every human being on the earth. It matters not what religion you follow now or even if you have none , the message is still for you. It's a simple message --- God loves you! You can know the peace that comes through Jesus Christ by believing on Him, believing that He is the only true Son of God; believing that when He died on the cross at Calvary for the sins of mankind, He died for you; believing that He defeated both death and the grave and that He lives today with God the Father, interceding on behalf of those who have chosen to follow Him.

Jesus Christ is the Hope that we have for the future. Even today, despite all the bad things that happen in our world, Jesus Christ is at work through His followers, spreading the message of hope that He was sent to bring in the beginning. It's part of the greatest love story that has ever unfolded. Every page of the New Testament in the Bible tells of God's love, and in doing so emphasises the ultimate truth for us that God not only loves us but that God is love.

I wish you a very happy new year for 2010. May it bring you love, peace,happiness and, above all, true hope for the future. If you haven't already accepted Jesus Christ into your life as your Saviour and Lord then may it be a year in which you make that life-changing decision.