Charles Wesley wrote a hymn in 1762 that really should motivate us today:
A charge to keep I have, A God to glorify, A never-dying soul to save, And fit it for the sky.
To serve the present age, My calling to fulfill: Oh, may it all my pow’rs engage To do my Master’s will!
1 Samuel 15:22 tells us that to obey is better than sacrifice. Wesley’s hymn is a reminder that as His church, we carry within us the only solution to the despair, and hopelessness clouding the hearts and minds of too many in our contradictory and confused culture. I pray that 2024 will be the year where obedience to God becomes our highest worship.
May God bless and strengthen you in this new year.