New Year, New Look, New You (?)

Regular readers of this bulletin may notice a slight change in its looks. A reason for this is that the editor has changed computer programs. Believe it or not, his intention was to make this change for the first Sunday’s bulletin in 2008, when the program was new. However, since the new bulletin could not be ready by that first Sunday, the motivation wore off for giving it a new look. Of course, computer programs and bulletins have little to do with our soul’s salvation.

There is nothing sacred about January 1, yet it is the day that attracts many to make resolutions to improve themselves. Of course, any day is as good as another to set goals to improve our lives before God (cf. Mt. 6:33), but there is something about the beginning of the New Year that stands out as the day to begin. Well, the New Year has arrived; the bulletin has a new look; but what about our spiritual condition? Do we need a “make-over”? Do we need to become a “new man”?

Consider Saul of Tarsus. He could honestly say, “I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day” (Acts 23:1), which would even include the time when he “persecuted the church of God, and wasted it” (Gal. 1:13). It turns out that he was a murderer. Yet, when the Lord appeared to him on the Damascus Road, he did not hesitate to ask, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” (Acts 9:6). Three days later, he obeyed when told to “be baptized, and wash away thy sins” (Acts 22:16). Consider also Cornelius. He was “A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway” (Acts 10:2). He certainly was not a bad guy. When Peter came to his house, Cornelius said, “Now therefore are we all here present before God, to hear all things that are commanded thee of God” (Acts 10:33). He and his household were later commanded “to be baptized in the name of the Lord” (Acts 10:48).

Saul of Tarsus and Cornelius show us that whether one is a murderer or a good upstanding citizen, one needs to be baptized to take away his or her sins. Being baptized into Christ is how the “old man” of sin is put away (Rom. 6:3-6); thus, it is also how the “new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness” is put on (Eph. 4:24; Col. 3:10). Have we been baptized into Christ? If so, are we continuing to be “transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Rom. 12:2)? Let us make this a year that we truly live for the Lord!