The Bulletin
of the
Church of Christ at
New Georgia
Tim Johnson, editor
January 1, 2006
In
This Issue:
The
Jewish New Year
by
Steve Klein
Just
Wad it Up and Start All Over
Dee
Bowman
Which
is Easier?
J.
R. Bronger
The Jewish New Year
As most Bible students know, the Jews of the Old Testament used a much different calendar than we do today. Originally, their calendar year began in the month of Tisri (our September). This was the time of the harvest and also the time of year in which the Jewish rabbis supposed that God had created the world.
In Exodus 12, the Lord rearranged the Jewish calendar. As He was about to liberate the Israelites from the cruel bonds of Egyptian slavery, the Lord told Moses and Aaron, "This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you" (Exodus 12:2). This month was first called Abib by the Jews, and later Nisan. It corresponds to our March or April. The Lord also ordained a memorial Feast to be celebrated in the middle of this first month. The Jews were told to keep this Feast every year, "It is the sacrifice of Jehovah's Passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses." (Exodus 12:27)
It is clear that God wanted the Israelites to remember their deliverance from bondage at the beginning of every year. The New Year was an occasion to recall that God's grace and power had liberated them, and that they owed their lives and their freedom to Him.
Customarily, modern men begin the New Year with celebrations and resolutions. The focus is often on improving oneself. Might I suggest a different approach for this year? How about borrowing a little from a page in the Jewish calendar and begin this year by "giving thanks unto the Father, who made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light; who delivered us out of the power of darkness, and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love; in whom we have our redemption, the forgiveness of our sins"(Colossians 1:12-14). Truly, our Passover has been sacrificed, Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 5:7). What better way to set the tone for a New Year than by remembering our deliverance from Satan's clutches and by determining never again to go back to the bondage of sin? "For freedom did Christ set us free: stand fast therefore, and be not entangled again in a yoke of bondage" (Galatians 5:1). Have a Happy (free-from-the-bondage-of-sin) New Year!
--Steve Klein
New beginnings are a necessary part of life. I remember doing my math homework and running across a difficult problem. I'd work on it and work on it and finally, in sheer disgust, wad up the paper and throw it in the vicinity of the trash basket. Then I'd get a new page and start all over again.
Traditionally, January first is the time we take to re-examine how things are and make resolutions to make them better-to start over again. It's like a new page, so to speak, one that is uncluttered and where there is room for new purposes and fresh plans. And I suppose all of us like the idea of being able to start over again.
Forgiveness of sins is the best of all possible new beginnings. Can you imagine what life would be like if we have to carry around the baggage of all the mistakes, all the misjudgments, all the immoral things we have done in the past? The sheer weight of the guilt would be imposing, if not impossible to bear. The angelic annunciation stated that "&ldots;he shall save his people from their sins" (Matt. 1:21 LBX). That's the best of all new beginnings.
So maybe it would be the best of a new beginning to start with a fervent, personal prayer for forgiveness. That's what I'm going to do. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" we are told (1 Jn. 1:9 LBX). That's about as good a way to begin the new year as I can think of.
I have put together some other resolutions, fitted for the refrigerator door or the mirror in the bathroom, in the hope that they will help us be better servants of His in the new year.
I am resolved to get closer to God, to make a special effort to read and study His word and put it to work in my life.
I am resolved to put first things first, to put my relationship to God first in my life and then arrange everything else in its proper order.
I am resolved to make plans each morning to do some deed of kindness that day, then to look for an opportunity to make my resolution a reality.
I am resolved to keep my role-whatever it is-in perspective and to perform the obligations it calls for with diligence and concern. I will try and be a better father, mother, son or daughter, brother or sister, employee or employer.
I am resolved to be confident about who I am-a Christian. I will not be ashamed and I will look for opportunities to tell someone about Jesus.
I am resolved to take at least 10 minutes each day and be with God-to dismiss all the cares and problems of my life and be thankful, to ask Him for His help and forgiveness, and praise Him for His blessings.
I am resolved to learn the value of the short prayer, to stop and pray several times a day and thereby let God be a part of all that I do, no matter the size or significance of the project.
I am resolved to look for good things in people, to respect the common folks, to give something to the less fortunate, to notice those who have little or no recognition.
I am resolved to budget my time so that God's cause is part of them. I will not allow anything to crowd out the time I have decided to give.
I am resolved to say "I love you" more and mean it.
I hope these suggestions will be a beginning place for a new beginning for you. I want to do better, don't you?
-- Dee Bowman
Via Southside Sunday,
Volume 3, Issue 26, Southside church of Christ,
Pasadena, TX
Four couples were sitting around the table discussing humorous things that have happened during their marriage. One brother told of buying a boat and not telling his wife for several months. He said after some rough days that she finally forgave him and began to cook again. He said that his philosophy is "It is easier to get forgiveness than permission."
Many seem to be living by this philosophy. Instead of being concerned about permission, they bank on being forgiven.
Many young people ignore the wishes of their parents and, when they get "caught," they cry, "I'm sorry." They might get a few weeks of being grounded. But why worry about permission when one can be forgiven?
I am not seeking to vilify forgiveness, because without it we are all lost. But the possibility of being forgiven does not give us a license, either in relationships or with God.
J. R. Bronger
Via Visitor, a publication of
the
Main and Thirteenth church of Christ, Blytheville, Arkansas