A NEWSLETTER FOR THE MEMBERS OF THE GREENWOOD CHURCH OF CHRIST

VOLUME 1 NO. 48                                         January 16, 2005

GOODBYE FOREVER!

BY STEVE NIEMEIER

Well, another year has ended and a new year is now 16 days old!  We will never have the year 2004 again and have bid farewell to it forever!  Paul states in Ephesians 6:15-16; “See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.”  Redeeming carries the thought process of “buying back”.  Of course we all know that you cannot buy back time, even though each one of us would probably like to.  So what is Paul referring to if we cannot buy back time?  Paul is stating that we should value the time and understand that if we spend our time foolishly then the days will be evil.  However, if we spend our time wisely we will have valued or redeemed the time.

Solemn states in the 3rd chapter of Ecclesiastes that there is a time for every purpose under heaven.  The first eight verses of this chapter basically cover the fact that there is a time for everything we will face in our lives from birth to death.  As you read through these eight verses you cannot help but think about the events of the recently departed year.  There were births and deaths, planting and harvest, killings and healings, break downs and building ups, weeping and laughing, mourning and dancing, casting stones and gathering stones, refraining from embracing and embracing, gaining and losing, keeping and throwing away, tearing and sewing, keeping silence and speaking, loving and hating, war and peace.  How did we redeem the time of 2004?

Computation of time in the Bible is by moments (Exodus 33:5); days (Genesis 8:3); weeks (Daniel 10:2); months (I Chronicles 27:1); and years (Genesis 15:13).  We can even find it designated by generations (Genesis 9:12).  The statement of Paul in Ephesians 5:16 and even the exhortation by Solomon in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 encourages us to redeem the time regardless of the season.

James 2:20 states; “But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?”  James 2:26 instructs us: “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.”  The year 2004 has closed!  What works did we accomplish for the Lord in 2004?  Oh I know we have attended services whenever we could.  That is good and maybe for some it is all they can do.  But really, most of us can talk on the phone, write a card or letter, have folks in our homes, some of us can spend a little time maintaining and cleaning the building, most of can visit the elderly, care for sick, encourage the spiritually weak, teach a class, have the gospel meeting preacher over for a meal or take him out to eat, give a little more each week in the contribution, invite our friends and family to services or to a home Bible study, come better prepared for the public Bible classes, and the list just keeps going on of the small things we can do to redeem the time the Lord has given us.

As we reflect on the year that has just passed let us look forward to the remaining part of this year.  As we do so, let us all revive our enthusiasm and strengthen our endurance to redeem the time of 2005. In so doing let us pray that we redeem the time in a way that the Lord would be pleased!