2023 was a wild year, and as it’s now come to a close I must say I am excited for what God’s going to do in 2024! While the beginning of the next calendar year isn’t inherently a special time, we find ourselves in a season traditionally associated with setting goals committing to changing our day-to-day lives for the better, and I think that’s a wonderful thing! Goals like eating healthier and spending less time on social media are fantastic, but while we’re focusing on these, we ought to also focus on how we’re nourishing our spirits.
You see, ever since the beginning in the garden of Eden, us humans have tried to find ways to fulfill ourselves by way of our own strength. Adam & Eve with the apple, King David with Bathsheba, and us with our own vices (food, fitness, wealth? We’ve got options). The thing is none of these have ever truly fulfilled us. Perhaps there’s a temporary distraction, but at the end of the day we’re back where we started: ourselves, hungry for fulfillment once again.
So how do we approach the fulfillment of our spirits in a way that actually fills us? Jesus himself gives us the perfect model in Matthew 4, verses 1-4:
“Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written,
“‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
Intimacy with God is the answer: making time to just be with Him, reading His word, welcoming Him to be part of your day to day life. Jesus knew that even supernatural miracle bread wouldn’t fulfill Him, so why should we expect our goals and strengths to? The only thing that can truly satisfy is God.
So, as we run towards our new goals and dreams for 2024, let’s not deceive ourselves with the lie that we can complete ourselves by our own strength. Rather, let’s lean into the truth that real fulfillment can only come from intimacy with God, that He should be our #1 priority.