As we enter a new year, let us proclaim, “Yes, God does it!” Looking back at 2008, this certainly is the message we will recall, for the church has and still is the miracle of God; and it will remain the same for 2009 as we continue to trust in Him. With God at the center of our lives, 2009 will be a good year.
The crises we face are symptoms of a sinful world. As Christians, we hope for a better world. God is the only solution. For this reason, as faithful members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, we strive to continually share the good news of Jesus-Christ. Let us have compassion on the hungry and thirsty. Let us welcome the foreigner. Let us serve the sick. When Jesus comes back, he will ask a single question: “Did you love?” During 2009, let us ask God to increase our love and to allow us to taste the benefit of loving each other. Yes, God does it. God offers us a special gift of love as we start the new year.
Ellen White wrote:
Supreme love for God and unselfish love for one another--this is the best gift that our heavenly Father can bestow. This love is not an impulse but a divine principle, a permanent power. The unconsecrated heart cannot originate or produce it. Only in the heart where Jesus reigns is it found. "We love Him, because He first loved us" (1 John 4:19). In the heart renewed by divine grace, love is the ruling principle of action.—Acts of Apostles 551.
I wish you a happy year 2009 in commitment to the Lord.