Marc Parent says, “If January is the month of change, February is the month of lasting change.” Though February is short, it is filled with lots of love and sweet surprises. It’s easy to start well in January after “the crossover” and then lose your focus by February when most people start their spiritual collapse. It’s easy to lose your passion for: spiritual things, work related matters or interpersonal matters such as relationships.
In the Church circles, we used a specific word for this phenomenon: BACKSLIDING. It’s a dated word, but it’s the most accurate one. Backsliding suggests that we were making progress but then we veered off track and started sliding backwards in our spiritual life. Remember: it’s not how you started whatever; it’s how you continue and how you finish.
There is a sad story in 2 Chronicles 24:1-23 about losing passion for the most important relationship in the universe: a relationship with God. It describes a man who had everything—riches, power, influence, a rich spiritual upbringing, meaningful work to do, and a good track record with the Lord—but threw it all away. Backsliding deprives a Christian of many of his privileges and it robs us of all present joys.
A backslidden state is a miserable place where most of us have had the experience of visiting but we surely know it is not a very nice place to live. My dear friend, this year’s February is special. So do something daring, extraordinary and unlike yourself. Take a chance and shape a different pattern in your personal cloud of probability!
It’s a season of leaping, a quantum leap, abrupt change and sudden increase. A dramatic advancement of high significance awaits us as you read: Deut.32:22; 2 Sam.6:16; Ps.18:29; Is.35:6; Lk 1:41; 6:23; Acts 3:8; Acts 14:10. This year 2024 is reckoned in the calendar as a Leap Year. Here are some facts for your consideration:
A Leap Year comes once in every four years. Opportunity comes but once!
Only One Extra Day makes the difference between a Leap Year and any other year. It takes only a day, called TODAY, to make a positive difference in life.
That one day is located in the month of February. This is your month of leaps and bounds, but be mindful of backsliding to your old ways!
Every Leap Year is “Surnamed” after that extra day in February. One big extra effort in your life this month, could give you a new name or title.
February is called the LEAP MONTH, therefore plan to take the leap. No matter that your heart beats a little fast, your knees feel a bit shaky, or your voice quivers. This February, take the leap that will launch you on the right path such that this period will indeed be for you a leap month.
The physical ‘leap’ in this season is actually rooted in the spiritual “leap of Faith” that the Lord places in your path from today. Just shine your eyes as you read Isaiah 43:18-19, Revelation 21:5, Isaiah 65:17, Ephesians 2:15, Ephesians 4:24, and Hebrews 8:13!
With January in the rearview mirror, it’s time to look forward to the shortest month of the year! The Month of leaping. We have a choice to make: heed the wake-up call, ignore it, or even kill it. Often, pain and past failures are what stops us from leaping. It hurts to admit that we’re wrong—that our lives are off-track after starting out so well. It’s embarrassing to admit that we have backslidden. But, your disappointments can be turned into joy and new life, by declaring in faith: “This is my breakthrough season! Lord, lead me from glory to greater glory, such that my latter days shall be greater than the former”. Like a good worship season, February is short and very sweet, so enjoy it while it lasts.
May Your Week Not Be Weak But With Him. I Send You My Prayerful Wishes. From Fr.Ray@accGh
