Brand New
A guest post by Chase Green.
It’s that time of year again. It’s time for new calendars to be brought out, and old habits to be reviewed as we look for ways to improve in the brand-new year.
I have to admit that the New Year’s holiday is one of my favorites.
Why, do you ask?
I love the New Year because it offers just a small glimpse of the possibilities of “all things new” (Rev. 21:5).
In that context, the apostle John writes of God’s bringing Christians into a new and better place called heaven.
But while we’re still here, I can’t help but make the connection to occasions such as this, wherein we look into our lives with self-examination and identify areas of self-improvement.
We long to be in that beautiful place called Heaven with God one day, and the journey to that glorious tomorrow starts with today!
I love the New Year because it offers insight into the fact that better times are coming.
Even if you are a lover of all things snow and winter, usually by January, folks begin longing for warmer weather. Most of the leaves have fallen, the longest and darkest nights of the year have come, and the coldest air of the season have prompted many to comment, “I can’t wait for Spring!”
With Spring just a few months away, warmer and longer days are on the horizon, and going back to Revelation 21:5, we can compare it with Isaiah 42:9 and 43:19, both of which talk about the fact that new things will “spring forth.” Coincidental?
Perhaps.
Or perhaps Providential! (See also the Dayspring in Luke 1:78).
I love the New Year because it offers a great opportunity for people to consider becoming a Christian.
The Bible says in 2 Cor. 6:2, “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”
We are reminded of the importance of not procrastinating in Acts 24:25 when indecisive Felix stated: “Go away for now; when I have a convenient time I will call for you.”
Did a convenient time ever come?
With this important principle in view, it still can be noted that many people during the New Year are contemplating making their lives better not only in physical ways, but also in spiritual ways, thus we may find more opportunities for evangelism presenting themselves during this time.
The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”
Brand new, we might say!
When someone obeys the Gospel (Rom. 10:16; 2 Thes. 1:8 cf. Rom. 6:1-7), he is that new creation in Christ! She experiences the new birth that Jesus talked about in John chapter 3! He can look forward to that new, wonderful place called heaven when he reaches the end of his sojourning here. And she can have a peace that surpasses all human understanding (Php. 4:6).
What can be more wonderful than that?
Chase Green is a good friend that I spent some time with in preaching school - he graduated in the class before me. Chase preaches for the Marietta Church of Christ in Marietta, Oklahoma.
Chase hosts the Everyday Christian podcast with the Scattered Abroad Network.