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I was reading a story in the book of our Creator Jesus, the other day, and I was forced to determine if I was going to have a positive outlook on life and find true meaning, or if I would become very negative and let my emotions get the best of me. There is a story in the book of Jesus that has the title Ecclesiastes. It is a long story of a king who once had everything but then became negative and overwhelmed as he saw his journey of life on earth coming to an end.

This king looked for wisdom and found it but when his journey of life was coming to an end he became pessimistic. Pessimistic is a word that means you have become bitter towards your journey of life. This attitude of being pessimistic affected every area of his life. It affected him physically, spiritually, mentally, and emotionally. He found no meaning in anything anymore.

This king, who was nearing the end of his journey of life, not only sought out wisdom and found that in the end it felt empty and meaningless, but he also sought out pleasure and achievement and special work projects. At the end of his life he found all of these areas of life to be meaningless, even though he had been very successful in every area of life. Although he had accumulated a lot of wealth and material possessions he still found himself feeling empty and meaningless. All that work and success and no feeling of victory at the end.

The reason this is a great topic to discuss as we enter a new year is because we all have dreams and goals. Sometimes when we accomplish those goals and dreams we are still left feeling empty inside and feeling like it was all for nothing. At the end of this man’s story in Ecclesiastes, he concludes that the main thing to do in life is to fear God and keep His commandments. Yet, how do we do this? How do we stay focused on Creator God? Who is God?

This is where I like to turn to other areas of the Book of our Creator Jesus. In the Gospel of John 1:1-5 (NIV) it says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

When I take a look at what my spiritual elder and ancestor, John, in the Gospel of John, I see that Jesus has always existed. In fact, Jesus is the Creator of the entire universe. The Book of Jesus says that God created the universe through Jesus and Jesus was God and that all who would believe in this Creator Jesus can become a child of God. This is what gives me hope in the midst of trying to stay positive in this journey of life.

It says here in the Book of Jesus that Jesus was life and light itself and that the darkness can’t overcome or extinguish this life and light. That means that if I stay focused on who Jesus is as Creator and life and light itself, then nothing evil or dark can overtake me. This is what gives me hope as I am going through this journey of life and trying not to be become negative like this king did in Ecclesiastes. When you believe in this Jesus, this is part of fearing God and keeping His commandments that the king was talking about. Yet this fear is a respectful kind of fear. The type of fear that believes in life and light itself.

It is easy to become depressed or down or feel like life is meaningless; especially when we do the same routines over and over again. Day after day. Yet, we need to stay focused on the One who is life and light itself so we won’t be overcome by the darkness. As you continue through this New Year, stay focused on Jesus the Creator of the universe and remember that He is life and light itself.

Maybe today is the day to become a believer in Jesus for the first time or maybe today is the day to refocus your attention on Him who has been there all along. Jesus is life and light itself and the darkness can’t extinguish it. That means the darkness of the evil one (Satan), can’t overtake you with feelings of doubt. We can be sidetracked for a while, but just as a child blowing on a forest fire can’t blow the fire out, so the darkness can’t extinguish the life and light that shines in our hearts. This life and light is what gives us meaning.

Parry Stelter is originally from Alexander First Nation and is founder of Word of Hope Ministries and lives in Edmonton, Alberta. http://www.wordofhopeministries.ca