Bible Thoughts January 3, 1999
The year of Jubilee in the Old Testament was a time for all things to be renewed. Land was to be returned to its original owners; possessions were to be returned; families were to be reunited. It was a new beginning. The kingdom of Israel was to be returned to its original state.
The word Jubilee literally means "the year of the ram's horn." It commenced with the blowing of the horns throughout the land. Also known as the "year of liberty" since all possessions were to be returned to their original tribes. Bondservants were to be released from their servitude. The intention of God was to return to the original promises and conditions given when Israel became a nation. The Jubilee was a means whereby God would be able to fulfill the promises to Abraham and his descendants.
Christians do not celebrate a year of Jubilee as did the Hebrews. Christians do experience new beginnings. Such occurred when one obeyed the gospel(II Corinthians 5:17). One is renewed day by day through being faithful to the Lord. "For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day"(II Corinthians 4:16). Our minds are refreshed through the study and application of the gospel(Ephesians 4:23). Each new day presents new opportunities to make the life of a Christian both refreshing and challenging.
We are in a new year. A year that will see the 1900s come to a close. When one reflects upon the past one hundredyears, and the many advances and victories, as well as the tragedies and defeats, we are amazed at what one hundred years has brought to the human family. It makes one wonder, should the world continue to stand, what will happen in the next one hundred. Will there be enough righteousness to spare the world? Or, will God see fit to bring to an end this earth? No person knows. Each individual should so live that should the Lord return, one can hear, "Come ye blessed of my father..."
The year of Jubilee gave the Hebrews an opportunity for renewal, reflection and restoration. The new year we have is filled with opportunities. It is up to each of us to take advantage of them. If you were not happy with what you did for the Lord and His cause this past year, you have another opportunity to make a change. If you were not satisfied with the type of life you lived, you have the opportunity to change that as well. Why not resolve to live each day as Christ wants us to live? To use one's energies and talents to grow spiritually as well as helping others to grow spiritually? Upon reflection, did you live the life that satisfies God?
The year of 1998 is now past. There is no way to return to it; there are no opportunities left in it. One cannot live in it; it is gone! Whatever one did for the cause of righteousness in that year has been done. All of the mistakes are in the past; one cannot change them, but one can resolve not to repeat such. A lot of us, as we grow older, try to live in the past. It is not possible, however vivid be the memories. The Bible teaches us we are to be "forgetting the things which are behind, and stretching forward to the things which are before"....and..."press on toward the goal unto the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus"(Philippians 3:13-14). Someone has suggested that those who live in the past are doomed to repeat it.
The new year presents each of us the opportunity to leave the past, live in the present, and plan for the future. It is up to each of us to so live that we will be prepared for the return of Jesus Christ and the throne of judgment. Make l999 the best year of your life as a Christian!
barbarize or refine the home. Remember that if the manners are rude, coarse, and vulgar in the home, they will not be elegant and refined away from home."-J. L. Brandt