The start of a New Year is often a time of fresh hope, and that’s certainly something we all need, looking back on the challenges of 2020. It’s also a time when people sometimes assess their priorities in life. New Year resolutions are an example of that, but it can sometimes go much deeper than a new diet or remembering to keep your desk tidy!
Over the last few months, I’ve been drawn to think again about my own personal priorities. And as I have done that, I have felt drawn back right to the centre of my Christian faith: my relationship with Jesus Christ. I have felt challenged in my prayer life and as I have read the scriptures day by day really to focus specifically on the person of Jesus himself. What does it really mean for me to be his follower? How does that really show in the way I behave towards others? Those are questions we should all ask ourselves, regardless of the role we play in the church, whether we are young or old, whether we are new to the following Jesus or have been trying to do that for many years.
In his letter to the Philippians, Paul talks about his strict religious upbringing, and how he has come to see that what matters much more than that is simply his relationship with Jesus. He says that ‘all those things that I might count as profit I now reckon as loss for Christ's sake. Not only those things; I reckon everything as complete loss for the sake of what is so much more valuable, the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord.’ Paul wants to live in a way which is completely shaped by his relationship with Jesus – following Jesus’s example and knowing Jesus’s love and power in his life each step of the way.
That is a calling we all have as Christians. Throughout this issue of Chester Diocesan News, you will find stories of how Christians across the diocese are seeking to put that into practice, and to discover more and more of what it is Jesus is calling them to do with their lives for his sake. On Tuesday evenings through January and February we are running an online course called Fruitfulness on the Frontline, which will help us to travel that journey together, finding out what Jesus calls us to do and to be in our particular situations, at home, in the workplace, in our neighbourhoods. It’s the sort of course you can join part way through, so it’s not too late if it’s already started by the time you read this.
Jesus is calling us all to a deeper relationship with him. The better we get to know him, the more wonderful it becomes, as Paul said. Imagine how things might be different if each one of us grew closer to Jesus in 2021 in prayer and in daily life. I am confident that God would use us all in a remarkable way.
So as you read this issue of CDN, may God bless you and inspire in his calling on your life. Each of us is unique. There are things Jesus is calling you to do and to be which are unique to you. No-one else can fulfil their Christian calling in exactly the same way as you. That’s an adventure that awaits each of us this year.
Mike Gilbertson
Are you being Called to Serve? Why not join us on the 23 January to find out more.
