Happy New Year for Heaven

Yesterday my wife and I spoke with a woman we have known for a few months now who is as yet not a Christian. Her and her husband both are very nice, hardworking people and we would love to see them come to Christ.  So in speaking to her I asked when they would have a little time in the near future for us to sit down and get to know them better and talk about the Lord.   Thinking about this and the coming new year made me wonder how many other people I can be praying hard for this new year to come to Christ.

As a Christian you have likely just received some gifts from loved ones for Christmas and of course the greatest gift you have already received from the Lord.  But what about all those people you know who haven’t yet been saved and those you will get to know this coming year, as the Lord allows?  Let me suggest a great new years resolution would be to pray for them diligently to accept Christ and to strive to be a better witness and example to them this year.  Wouldn’t it be awesome to see by the end of the next year some of those folks saved, baptized & added to your church? How thrilled you would be, how grateful they would be, how excited your pastor would be, how happy God would be !

Not long after I went to Bible college I remember coming back from a church visitation program and a young man in his thirties who was also a student asked me how things went and I told him I had the chance to lead a young man to the Lord that evening. The student was from the south and he drawled  in his southern accent, “Amen, bruuuther – the angels are rejoicing in heaven now !”  I said, “Huh?”  He said “Yes, look in Luke 15 when you get back to your room and you will see what I mean, bruuuther !”      Sure enough Jesus said, “Likewise, I say unto you, there is JOY in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repents.”  (vs.10).

Remember that line from the movie “Its A Wonderful Life” at its end where a bell rings and the little girl says “every time a bell rings an angel gets its wings”?  That isn’t true but when a soul repents the angel DO rejoice in heaven !!  So that means YOU can cause heaven to have a happy new year by taking part in the repenting of sinners.  Make that a goal this year for the Lord and for others !!