Umwaka Mwiza! Happy New Year!
I hope your Christmas was fantastic! If you missed it, don’t forget to check out the 5-minute Christmas video featuring Rwanda.
Though we are from different cultures, God has knit our hearts together with our Rwandan brothers and sisters in Christ.
In this week’s video, I share a clip featuring Samuel, Gilbert, along with Job behind the camera. The three of us joined another one of our teachers, Abed, as he led worship at his church. Many of us had been unable to worship in person for months. Gathering together that day was a joyous and refreshing occasion! As Samuel shares, he reflects the joy that comes with gathering together in person at church.
Here is an important question: As we welcome 2021 in a couple of days, how can we flourish as faithful servants of Christ this year?
We can choose to live in fear, or to live in faith.
We can make the choice today to establish habits that will help keep our focus on what matters in life.
In 1 Corinthians 3, Saint Paul reminds us that we are all “building” something with our lives. Every choice matters. Will what we build be worthy of reward when we stand before God one day, or will we face loss?
“For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss…”
There are three clear principles in this short section of 1 Corinthians 3:
1. God calls us to “build” our lives on the foundation of Jesus Christ.
2. The Judgment Seat of Christ will reveal the quality of our build.
3. Our eternal reward or loss is based on the “building materials” we used.
What spiritually-oriented habits will you put in place this year?
Decide today to live a “reward-worthy” 2021!