2021 Is The Perfect Opportunity to Turn to Christ

Are you seeing the posts all over social media about what a year this has been? Luckily this post is not about the year 2020. It’s about looking ahead to 2021.

This change in the calendar is a perfect opportunity to turn to Christ and center our life on Him!

We have just spent the last month of the year preparing for the Incarnation, for the coming of Our Lord into humanity. The time of Advent is spent in anticipation and waiting, full of imagery of hopeful expectation of the Christ, Our Savior.

God – immortal, all-powerful, all-knowing, Goodness and Love itself – was preparing to enter our humanity as a powerless, vulnerable infant! When was the last time we even tried to wrap our heads around that? It seems almost absurd, if you think too long on it.

God – who has no need of any of us – loved so much that He created each one of us. And then, because we are incapable of reconciling our broken, sinful lives to Him, He humbly came down to live as one of us! That is what we are waiting for during Advent – our salvation.

As we listen to the words of St. John the Evangelist, we hear that the world did not accept Christ. The Jewish people were waiting for centuries for the Messiah, yet could not accept Him as He came.

The Word was the true light that enlightens all men; and he was coming into the world. He was in the world that had its being through him, and the world did not know him. He came to his own domain and his own people did not accept him. But to all who did accept him he gave power to become children of God.

John 1:9-12

We are just like the Jews of Jesus’ time. Just like them, we do now know Him or do not accept Him.

Because our lives seem so full in preparation for Christmas, as we are drowned with the secular nature of the holiday, that we can tend to push aside the mystery of the Incarnation.

Even moreso, the story of Christmas is so familiar that we can sentimentalize it. We don’t spend nearly enough energy actually meditating upon the reality of the Word Made Flesh.

Truly, we have become immune to the immensity of this moment – when, in the fullness of time, God sent His Son to dwell among us.

Christ is born, and we celebrate, but do we really believe that He is our salvation? That all things we have hoped for, all we have been waiting for, have their fulfillment in Him? That the world is different because of Him? That we are different because of Him? That we can now have access to God because of the Son?

Christmas Day comes and goes. Now, it’s time to turn back to our earthly concerns, and a week later the New Year is upon us. Time to move forward, look to the future. We make our own resolutions, push ahead to make this our year.

I read this reflection in a meditation book I use for prayer, that I want to share with you:

Human history is a dramatic struggle of man’s attempt to discover meaning in life. It narrates the mostly unsuccessful but always passionate search for order, prosperity and lasting happiness. You would think that when God himself decided to dwell among us to give us the answer and show us the way, we would welcome him eagerly and gladly. Such was not the case. The answer did not fit our categories, and the way led out of our comfort zone, and therefore many turned their backs on the Savior.

The Better Part, John Bartunek, pg 795

Of course, it’s good to look to the future, to feel motivated by a desire for something better.

But what does the future hold if Jesus is put at the center of our lives? What if our resolutions were focused on turning to Christ?

Read again what St. John says:

But to all who did accept him he gave power to become children of God.

John 1:12

That’s what I want! The only thing I want to strive for this year is being the best disciple I can be, to be the woman God created me to be, to center my life on Him.

We all long for Him. God Himself placed that longing in our hearts. It’s this longing that our New Year’s resolutions are really based on.

And the beautiful thing is that He longs for us too. He wants you to be with Him, now and for all eternity.

Our Father wants all of us to be with Him. He wants to leave no one behind and wants everyone to be saved.Christ wants to come into your heart, to become one with you. To be Emmanuel, God is with us. To be born again into your heart.

But this requires a choice on your part. You must choose Him before He will come. He will not come by force or might or power. He will not force salvation upon you.

Jesus waits with perfect patience and perfect humility. He is waiting on you to say yes.

So why do we make Our Blessed Lord wait? Why don’t we say yes to Him? Why do we push Him to the periphery? Is He just another thing on our to-do list?

Maybe we don’t believe or we don’t trust. Maybe we have deep wounds that causes us to keep God and others at arm’s length. Many of us are going through life numbly, wondering if this is all there is.

Am I loved? Can I be loved? Does anyone truly know me? Is there any antidote to my loneliness and emptiness? What’s the point of my pain and suffering? Is there joy and peace? Can I find healing? Is there love for me?

And the answer is yes, to all of these questions. And the answer is Jesus Christ.

Maybe you’ve heard this a million times and it never seems true. Or maybe you’ve never heard this. But the answer is Jesus – it has been and always will be Jesus.

He is the “peace that surpasses all understanding.” (Phil 4:7)

And He is waiting on you. Don’t wait another day to say yes to Him. 2021 is the perfect opportunity to turn to Christ.