My Reflections On 2011 And 2012
Categories: Church of Christ Bulletin Articles
My Reflections on 2011:
As I reflect on the events of 2011 in my life, my mind would have never thought that I would ever have to put my wife (Nancy) in a nursing care facility or that she and my son (Brian) would be involved in a severe auto accident (thankfully, both have since recovered from their injuries). One never knows what a year may bring, therefore, it behooves us to simply trust in the Lord and allow Him to direct our paths (Proverbs 3:5-6).
Because of the above events, I could very well be a despondent person, but I have chosen the same direction that King David chose so long ago, when he lost his young son in death (2 Samuel 12:7-18):
“So David arose from the ground, washed and anointed himself, and changed his clothes; and he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. Then he went to his own house; and when he requested, they set food before him and he ate” (2 Samuel 12:20).
Brethren, we have to “keep on keeping on” for the Lord and His cause, no matter what the circumstances and no matter what curves life throws at us, and this is what I intend to do as long as the Lord gives me breath.
My Reflections On 2012:
I’m reminded of what Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 1:9-11:
“That which has been is what will be, That which is done is what will be done, And there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which it may be said, “See, this is new?” It has already been in ancient times before us. There is no remembrance of former things, Nor will there be any remembrance of things that are to come By those who will come after.”
As brother Burton Coffman so succinctly stated in his commentary on verse 9:
“The sins of America today are exactly the sins of ancient Babylon. Man rationalizes his sinful behavior and yields to seductive temptations in exactly the same patterns as always. In this sector, there is indeed nothing new under the sun. Man’s basic spiritual need is the same as that of Adam and Eve after they were cast out of the Garden of Eden.”
Regarding the above verses, another commentator observed:
“Past and future have everything in common, for the future is only the past done over. Life is like a B-grade movie, run again and again on the screen. The only thing that changes in the program is the audience. The people seeing the movie suppose that they are seeing something new, but they are not. It is the same reel rewound. The reason people suppose the movie is new, is that they have no communication with their predecessors. The disjuncture between one generation and the next is the reason why each generation thinks that its experiences are unique. As it has been with those who went before, so it is with us, and so it will be with our successors” (source: L.D. Johnson, The Layman’s Bible Book Commentary, Broadman Press,1982, pg. 97-98).
In light of the above thoughts, the following article expresses my sentiments and hope for the New Year, 2012:
- Getting Back To The Bible, To God, And To Moral Sanity
—Mike Riley