In the year of our Lord 2024 …

King David understood something that is important for us to remind ourselves of about this time of year:

“My future is in your hands. Rescue me from those who hunt me down relentlessly,” Psalm 31:15.

Our future is in God’s hands.

God doesn’t owe us another year to live, but if He should grant us 365 days of life “in the year of our Lord 2024,” then perhaps we should seek from God His wisdom for how to live in the new year He might grant us.

While the Bible is rich in God’s instruction, Paul’s letter written to the Ephesians could serve us well for some insights for life in 2024. The Book of Ephesians in the New Testament emphasizes the unity of the church, the spiritual blessings of believers in Christ, and the practical application of Christian living in light of God’s grace. So let’s turn to Ephesians and dig out just three nuggets of wisdom for how to live another year as a child of God in this world:

1. Imitate God in everything you do. Children of God should be like their Father, and that’s the practical instruction Paul shared with the Ephesian Christians:

“Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God,” Ephesians 5:1-2.

In verses 3-6, Paul provides a list of specific sinful behaviors that should not be part of a Christian’s life, concluding, “Don’t participate in the things these people do. For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light! For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true,” Ephesians 5:7-9.

A life lived that is good, and right, and true would make for a good 2024, don’t you think?

2. Carefully determine what pleases the Lord. For so many of us, this is what we’re routinely careless about! But Paul would have us turn that around and make it a matter of focused, thoughtful intention:

“Carefully determine what pleases the Lord. Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them,” Ephesians 5:10-11.

When did you last sit and consider what pleases God, then examine how you live that out? Imagine what 2024 might be if you carefully determined what pleases the Lord, and then lived that out!

3. Be careful how you live. The average person is grossly lacking in self-awareness, and even more so in “other-awareness,” resulting in carelessly hurtling through life with little considered thought or much purposeful intention. Paul, here, wants us to turn that around to be more thoughtful, and thus, more intentional so that we may make wiser choices in how we live:

“So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do,” Ephesians 5:15-17.

What would 2024 be like if you imitated God in everything you do, carefully determined what pleases the Lord and was intentional about that, and you were careful about not acting thoughtlessly but sought first to understand what the Lord wants you to do?

It could be a fascinating year, couldn’t it?

Scotty