From the Editor
Reflections for a New Year
STACEY MCKENZIE
Jesus’s First Words in the Gospels
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“As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease” (Genesis 8:22). This promise has stood the test of time, with God continuing to sustain the universe by His Word (Hebrews 1:3). The Person in charge of generating sunlight every morning, curating sunsets every evening, and ushering seasons in and out is caring for us personally. He has never failed in orchestrating each turn around the sun, and we have never expected Him to, although things in our own circumstances may seem uncertain. How can we position our hearts and thoughts in anticipation of a new year, another change in seasons?
Remembering that God has promised that seasons may change, but His words never will (Isaiah 40:8), I looked at the first recorded words Jesus spoke at the beginning of each of the Gospels. In the Book of Matthew, we see Jesus making it a priority to be baptized by John the Baptist, who feels unworthy and objects (Matthew 3:13-14). He had been preparing the way for Jesus’s coming, but didn’t feel it was his role to baptize anyone now that Jesus had appeared. Jesus insists, “It should be done, for we must carry out all that God requires” (Matthew 3:15, NLT). Is baptism something you have been meaning to get to, but have postponed for a while? Is there anyone in your circle of influence you can encourage toward this important step? Is there anything you have been feeling the Spirit’s nudge toward but haven’t made a priority yet? This could be our time to pursue whatever God has been requiring of us that has remained outstanding.
In the Book of Mark, Jesus’s first words follow John the Baptist’s declaration of Jesus’s coming. We are challenged by His invitation in Mark 1:15 (NLT): “‘The time promised by God has come at last!’ he announced. ‘The Kingdom of God is near! Repent of your sins and believe the Good News!’” How does reading these words impact you? If you have heard them before, have they lost their weight in importance, either personally or in sharing them with others? Now is an ideal time for us to consider their reality and to allow this truth to impact our day-to-day living and relationships.
In the Book of Luke, Jesus first speaks when He is rebuking Satan, who is tempting Him for a 40-day period in the wilderness. Satan invites Jesus to turn a stone into a loaf of bread, and Jesus replies, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone’” (Luke 4:4, NLT). When it comes to God’s Word, do you feel well fed? Are God’s promises anchoring you for the coming days? Might there be a need to try a new plan or routine so that the Word’s power can bring a new wave of awe and comfort? Don’t give up if this season feels discouraging; it will soon turn.
In the Book of John, after John the Baptist proclaims Jesus as the Messiah, the first disciples to leave John to follow Jesus are questioned by Him about their intentions. “What do you want?” (John 1:38, NLT). This is still a good question for us to ponder today. Why do we want to follow Jesus? What are we hoping for in following Him? When the disciples next ask Him where He is staying, Jesus responds, “Come and see” (John 1:39, NLT). This is perhaps a two-part challenge for us in a new season—to ponder again why we want to follow Jesus, and then to just follow Him in faith to see where He will take us next.
With the coming and going of seasons come times for sowing and times for reaping. When Jesus shares The Parable of the Sower, He names the ways that the seeds of the gospel can grow and bear fruit, or wither and die (Mark 4:1-20). The warning that has stayed with me most is the one that “the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful” (Mark 1:19). I want to be counted among those in whom the seed fell on good soil, and produced a crop many times over what was sown (v. 20). Reflecting on these first few red-letter words of Jesus in each of the Gospels can give us a compelling start to a fruitful year.
This article appeared in the January/February/March 2026 issue of testimony/Enrich, a quarterly publication of The Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada. © 2026 The Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada. Photo © istockphoto.com.