Happy New Year 2023 my dear listener! I’m super grateful for the opportunity to be recording the first episode of the year.So after I made the last episode titled “Be Intentional”, I suddenly started seeing both religious and non-religious posts all over the internet about intentionality. You know how you buy a new car and suddenly start seeing the type all over town? That weird thing definitely happened to me over the last week.At the beginning of last year, 2022, in my bid to be intentional at the time, I made a commitment to read the entire bible through in a year, and I can tell you, it was such an interesting experience. It raised many strong questions in my heart, which drove me to deeper study and to ask God and myself, many questions. It was such a rich experience so much so that when I completed it on December 31st, I immediately committed to starting again on January 1st this year, and so I’m currently going at it for the second time in my life. And as I read through the book of Genesis a few days ago, something struck me about the story of Cain and Abel. It’s an old story which I’m sure you’ve heard and read many times, but for a refresher, please pop over to Genesis Chapter 4. It will only take a few minutes of your day. If you do better with audios like I do, you could play it to yourself in a bible translation you understand. Anyway, in Genesis 4:3-5, the brothers each gave offerings to God and only as I read through a few days ago, did I realise that the difference between their offerings, what distinguished Abel and made God favour his offering over Cain’s, is that Cain gave an offering, but Abel went a step further and was deliberate about his offering. He was intentional! That word again right? While some have made the moral of this story to be about giving meaningful offerings in church, the lesson from the Cain and Abel story for a Christian today, encompasses, but goes beyond giving an offering because in the New Testament, we are called to “be” the offering (Romans 12:1). The story for me, was simply another reminder so early in the year, not to relegate my spiritual life, but to be deliberate and intentional with God, every day of this year. So maybe God has whispered to you to make adjustments in how you spend your time, in how you relate with Him and others; don’t ignore the promptings. Remember that you are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body (1 Cor 6:19-20). I pray that as we take steps in our lives, to be more intentional in every way, God will bless our decisions and make abundant grace available to us, in Jesus name, Amen