Best foot forward

THE War Cry invites readers to send in requests for prayer, including the first names of individuals and details of their circumstances, for publication. Send your Prayerlink requests to warcry@salvationarmy.org.uk or to War Cry, 101 Newington Causeway, London SE1 6BN. Mark your correspondence ‘Confidential’.

j

Becoming a Christian

There is no set formula to becoming a Christian, but many people have found saying this prayer to be a helpful first step to a relationship with God

Lord Jesus Christ, I am truly sorry for the things I have done wrong in my life. Please forgive me. I now turn from everything that I know is wrong. Thank you that you died on the cross for me so that I could be forgiven and set free. Thank you that you offer me forgiveness and the gift of your Holy Spirit. Please come into my life by your Holy Spirit to be with me for ever. Thank you, Lord Jesus. Amen

Mind

A new year message from Commissioner Anthony Cotterill, leader of The Salvation Army in the UK and Republic of Ireland

Extract from Why Jesus? by Nicky Gumbel published by Alpha International, 2011. Used by kind permission of Alpha International

your step

IWAS challenged by the conflicting

opinions of my two frightened companions. ‘Hold the lamp up!’ said one. ‘No, shine it on the ground!’ countered the other.

We were hurrying through what was, for me, an uncharted area of African bush. It was nighttime and pitch-black. I’d like to say it was quiet, but it was obvious by the sounds around us that we were being watched – and the eyes watching us did not belong to humans. One of my companions wanted the lamp held up so that we could see where we were going. The other wanted it to shine on the ground in order that we could see where we were treading.

We all want to see where we are going – and, if you are like me, the last thing you want to do is put your foot in it, whether that’s mud or something worse. ‘Putting your foot in it’ is a phrase we’re all familiar with, coming from the longer ‘opening your mouth and putting your foot in it’ and describing instances where we say the wrong thing. And now that 2022 has at last been exited, I would imagine that most of us can look back and know that at some point we put our size 13s in it.

Let’s be honest – while we may try to avoid such mistakes at all costs, some of us seem to be gifted in putting our foot in it. We may have said something or followed a course of action that has led to us slipping, stumbling and even hurting ourselves or, worse still, that has caused those around us to face hurtful consequences.

The new year is an ideal time for us to acknowledge and, if necessary, apologise to others and God, for times past when our feet strayed from the best way. As we take our first steps into 2023, our own personal challenges may well be amplified as we all struggle in the gloom and darkness brought about by the dire economic situation that has followed on from a pandemic and by the war in Ukraine, which has not only devastated that beautiful and fruitful country and her people but has also had global repercussions. Is there any hope for us? Is there a source of redemption? Is it possible for things to be better as we gingerly move forward?

I dare to suggest that for the people of Britain, heading into the new year of 1940 was even darker and more desperate than our days heading into 2023. At the end of his 1939 Christmas Day broadcast, King George VI, grandfather of Charles III, quoted words of the poet Minnie Haskins, whose poem entitled ‘God Knows’ contained the lines:

I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year: ‘Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.’

And he replied:

‘Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God. That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.

The King then said: ‘May that Almighty hand guide and uphold us all.’

It’s sound advice for us all at this time, especially if we may feel we are heading out into the darkness.

The hand of God himself is extended to every one of us to guide and uphold

us. We dare not forget the wonderful Christmas truth that Jesus is described as being God with us. Thirty or so years later, this unique one, born in Bethlehem, boldly declared: ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life’ (John 8:12 English Standard Version). Amazing! Aligning We all want ourselves to Jesus, seeking to follow him and to be like to see where him in all our ways has the benefit of this light of the we are going world illuminating the way for us – usually one step at a time, which I have discovered helps immensely to reduce the number of times I put my foot in it! That’s good news. But there’s more. We have been given another guide as we start a new year. ‘Hold the lamp up, so we can see the way ahead!’ ‘No, shine the light on the ground!’ Those were the cries in my darkness. Hundreds of years even before Jesus walked on Earth, one Bible writer declared: ‘Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path’ (Psalm 119:105). May 2023 be a year in which you walk confidently in the light of Christ, guided by the word of God that is the Bible. If you need a new year challenge, perhaps you could start reading John’s Gospel in the New Testament and experience this light for yourself. Oh, and if – or more likely when – you do put your foot in it, when you make mistakes and trip up, remember that God loves you and he delights in lifting you up and putting you back on track. A happy and bright new year to you.