2024 is here, and it is a leap year. By leap, I do not mean a year divisible by four, but one that will cause you to leap for joy, mount up with wings like eagles, and soar high. It’s the beginning of the year, and while some may say it’s still early days, there is no better time to declare intentions than now.

There is something about beginnings, and it can be studied if you are keen to observe the patterns. We serve a God without a beginning or an end, but there are many beginnings in Him. And what better place there is to start than from Genesis? Here are some patterns to learn from, as it was in the beginning:

TRUTH IN THE INWARD PARTS

Beginnings are times for frank talk and blunt honest self-assessment. It is the time to call a spade by its name and not a big spoon or some gardening tool. Things should be set aright at the inception without abbreviation or exaggeration. Beginnings are times to see things as they are and say it as it is. That was what we saw in the second verse of Genesis chapter 1: The earth was void, empty, formless, dark, and doomed. Real, honest assessment is necessary at the beginning for any meaningful progress to be made in the end.

While it’s important to enumerate and celebrate the high points, this kind of review must be concentrated on the grey areas where we had once suffered defeat and fallen short. Please, do not shy away from them; don’t explain it away or blame it on someone else. Take responsibility! You should be able to confront yourself and say ‘o boy, we slept too much last year. If we continue like that this year, poverty will overtake us o…’

BROOD!

Yes, brood. Sit on the eggs, long enough to generate some heat. Incubate the ideas and plans. Ponder on your purpose. Consider the promise. Meditate on God’s word. Did you know that a brooding hen may refuse to leave the eggs to eat or drink? In extreme cases, some may even starve to death just to ensure that their eggs get enough warmth to hatch and come alive.

Brooding can be draining and consuming, but you can’t afford to shy away from it. As you begin another year, It’s important to create time for critical reflection. Avoid noise and every form of distraction. Don’t just roam and wander! Ponder! Consider! Wonder! Be mindful of your purpose and God’s promises. Dream dreams! See visions! Make it plain! Meditate! Brainstorm! Imagine! Sit on it!

TALK ABOUT IT

Talk may be cheap, but there is hardly anything that can begin without words. Whatever emerges without words is either a fraud or a miracle; it’s either stolen or given but not created. As a matter of importance, it’s necessary to ‘talk about it’, even when you don’t know the first step to take. Joseph gathered his brothers, just to talk about it. David did the same and even continued after he was shushed by his brothers. While it both landed them in trouble with their siblings, it sure propelled them toward the realization of their God-given dreams.

Words must first go out if anything will exist on earth. We know by faith, that even the world that we see today was made by words. Of course, not mere words, but the very words of God. Those images and pictures in your heart, those thoughts and ideas… must first be expressed and released as words, to register its existence on earth. Don’t just think it, don’t just ink it; say it! Call a friend and discuss the matter, chat up your mentor, inform your Pastor…

Thoughts and ideas can be buried, but once words are released into the atmosphere, they gain a life of their own so much that even if it were impossible for them to find expression through you, they can find it through another. David was the one who thought of the Temple project, but it was Solomon, his son who built it. But the ‘Temple’ idea began its life the day David verbalized the thought. To participate in an election, you need to declare your intentions and pick up the Expression of Interest form. Well, interests and intentions are made known on earth through words. Even God’s intentions for you, once discovered, must be declared. Now is the time to speak up.

LET THERE BE LIGHTS

Lights: That’s what you need to govern the day and the night. You can’t just get enough of them. It is the most important thing needed after the word. The word must first create light, for it to find full expression. Light is the first thing you create with words, if those thoughts and ideas won’t end up as mere words without substance. Light brings clarity and direction to the vision. It chases away fear; clears doubts; introduces possibilities, and reveals the truth. I believe you know how to generate light: Of course, in the place of prayer and by the word of God.

Light comes first, but it must re-emerge as lights. And this second form, lights, must be constantly and continually generated. Can you recall a day when the sun forgot to show up in the sky? Genesis 1:14 says, ‘…they will serve as signs for the appointed times, seasons, days and years.’ Lights are signposts that signal the beginning of times and seasons, announce your present position, and point the pathway to the destination. Lights are a beacon of hope and without them, everything is doom and gloom.

CONCLUSION

What makes a year new is not the dates on the calendar. What marks the beginning of a year is not resolutions or themes, but lights. How much of it have you in your spirit? Let there be lights… as a sign for a new year, to separate the old from the new because, without them, today might as well be the 370th day of 2023 or 735th day of 2022. The Year 2024 will be a glorious one in the name of Jesus but don’t forget to own up, brood, begin to speak, and light up the year. Cheers!