There’s this joke I saw online recently: “Even if I lose my memory, I can never forget 2024.” And I find it both hilarious and true. What a year it has been. No other year compares to 2024 in how the Lord has exposed me to myself, and it has come through communion with Him.
To spend more time with the Lord is to become like Him, and becoming like Him requires letting go of anything that doesn’t reflect Him. He has shown me an x-ray of my heart, revealing the idols I’ve loved and exalted. By His mercy, He has been redefining my priorities, which has been a humbling process.
In some of the most difficult moments of 2024, I heard the Lord ask, “Am I still your chief joy and satisfaction?” And with an aching, repentant heart, I’ve replied “yes” again and again. As we wrap up this year, I’d like to share a few things that have been on my mind.
1.
“Now that you’ve let go of the weight of people’s expectations and opinions, don’t you feel lighter? Now, run this race well.”
I was stretching and getting ready to take a shower when the Lord placed these words on my heart. I quickly opened my Bible app to Hebrews 12:1: “Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.”
When we think about sin, how often does fear come to mind? The first time I heard someone explain fear as a sin we need to repent from was Steffany Gretzinger on a podcast in September 2021. She talked about how fear is one of the most tolerated sins in the church, even though God repeatedly tells us in Scripture, “Fear not.”
For as long as I can remember, I’ve battled with the fear of people’s opinions. But shrinking back in fear is walking in disobedience—it’s elevating people above the One who created me. This is a sin I’ve learned to disdain, repent from, and replace with the fear (reverence) of God. Charles Spurgeon said it best: “There is no cure for the fear of man like the fear of God.” I’ll share more about this as we go on.
This year has reminded me that even the best of us are still human. Only the One who died to give me life has the right to decide how I live it. People don’t get to dictate or control a life they didn’t give (and no, this isn’t an excuse to resist spiritual leadership and accountability).
2.
There’s a popular sound on TikTok that goes, “Am I still your baby, or you’ve found another baby?” We must ask ourselves a honest question: Is the Lord still my Lord, or have I made something else my lord?
This year, I was reminded of how deeply this generation has grown familiar with God and religion, yet has not submitted to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. We’ve departed from the fear of the Lord, without which we cannot walk in wisdom. Many don’t even understand what it truly means to fear the Lord. To fear the Lord is to hate evil (Proverbs 3:7), yet people have loved evil and convinced themselves that they fear Him.
And the Lord sees. He sees the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, the compromises, and it grieves Him. The words of the Lord in Isaiah 43:24 sadly ring true today: “You have burdened Me with your sins; you have wearied Me with your iniquities.” The Lord is calling us to repentance, to come before His throne as Isaiah did in Isaiah 6, so we can receive mercy. And God’s sanctification is His mercy. Some of us want God to take away the guilt we feel and leave the sin we love. But this kind of mercy doesn’t exist, and God is not mocked.
3.
I’ve been reading The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer, and a few books have left me as undone as this one. After an evening in this book, I realized how much we have lost the art of longing for God, the way people in the Bible did. Moses was persistent—not as we often are, seeking material needs—but persistent in his desire to behold God’s glory (Exodus 33:18).
Paul’s ultimate desire was to know Christ, so much so that he counted everything else as loss. While we’ve become content with a shallow understanding, Paul sought to know Him deeply: the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings (Philippians 3:10).
We say we love the Lord, but if someone pursued us as lethargically as we often pursue Him, would we believe they truly loved us? We know how important longing and pursuit are in human relationships; how much more should we seek the One who loved us first and gave His life for us?
4.
We’ve barely scratched the surface in our journey with the Lord, and that truth fills me with awe and expectation. There’s a South African song I’ve loved since university that says, “And we will never settle for less, we know there’s more that’s found in You.”
There is more of Jesus to know, love, and emulate. Each time I read the Gospels, I marvel at the red letters. There is more to do for His glory—more souls to be set free, more of His power to see. There is more.
We must abandon “appetizer Christianity,” where we catch a glimpse of God’s glory and think we’ve seen it all. As Pastor Lawrence Oyor said, “There is no see-finish with the Most High.” The same Spirit that empowered the apostles dwells in us, enabling us to walk in deeper levels of intimacy and consecration, just as they did.
When we faithfully steward God’s Word and presence, we’ll witness His power at work in us and around us—just like the apostles did. In prayer, preaching, exercising spiritual gifts, endurance, loving our neighbours, diligence, and leading holy lives.
If there is anything to take from this blogpost, it is this: Sit at His feet often. Delight in His word and read those familiar words again and again. Sing those songs until the lines are engraved on your heart. Train your heart to hunger and thirst for Him like you did in the beginning. There is always more.
I’m entering 2025 with the same desire I had in 2024: to be at the center of God’s will. To be a faithful lover of Jesus and a faithful servant. To live well and please Him. Jesus is so worthy—may we never forget.
This song has been my heart’s cry and declaration this year:
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