The beginning of a New Year is a time for reflection. I don’t know about you, but it has been several years since I have stayed up late at night to “watch the ball drop.” But as I remember it, in the wee hours of the first morning of the new year, with the strains of “Auld Lang Syne” echoing in the background, there seemed to always be a sense of melancholy reflection on the past as well as a bubbling enthusiasm filled with anticipation for the future.
That dichotomy of emotions is exactly the sentiment of this writer at this very moment in time. The reason: This article is the final edition of my writing for this newspaper. I have been writing a weekly article since the middle of 1995, and while I have greatly enjoyed the opportunity to express my thoughts and feelings on the pages of this paper, based upon the Word of God, it is becoming increasingly more apparent to me that this space should be taken by younger voices, hopefully with more energy and enlightenment,- yes, still from the Scriptures – but with a fresher and brighter sense of what God is doing and what He desires to accomplish in each of our lives from this point forward. It is time to pass the baton to the next generation of talented, gifted, and godly writers.
As I type these words from my study here in central Florida, I have nothing but admiration and gratitude for the administration and staff of this paper who through the years have tolerated my feeble attempts to winsomely demonstrate the extreme practicality of the Word of God for each of our lives, and to encourage and challenge each of us to live more godly lives in Christ Jesus. To Jeff Gilliland and Ryan Carter, the latest in a long series of editors, I give my heartfelt thanks for your toleration of my sometimes deadline-pushing submissions, and your gracious attitudes toward my writing.
But most of all, I want to thank you who so kindly have read my articles for these 27-plus years and have often encouraged me to keep writing more. Your support has indeed encouraged me in the pursuit of this “hobby” that I so passionately love to pursue. I have truly enjoyed the opportunity so graciously given to me to expose and affirm how I believe God would desire for each of us to live in a day and age that so adamantly wants to deny the very presence of God, let alone His influence.
When I consider that these words are the last you may hear from me in this public setting, I am drawn to the “last words” of the Apostle Paul, which he expressed several times in his epistles. Repeatedly, he used the expression “Finally, brethren” (1 Thessalonians 4:1; 2 Thessalonians 3:1-2; Ephesians 6:10; Philippians 3:1; Philippians 4:8-9; 2 Corinthians 13:11) to express his final wishes for his readers.
One of those verses, 2 Corinthians 13:11, sums up my desire for each of you for this coming year, and for all eternity. That verse reads, “Finally, brethren, rejoice, be made complete, be comforted, be like-minded, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you.” I am convinced that God would desire nothing more than the essence of this verse to be present in each of you during 2024.
Our first President, George Washington, as he left the highest office in the land, in his farewell address to his beloved countrymen, made some very profound statements with regard to his time in office and the future for the nation. I would like to re-phrase his words to express my thoughts towards each of you on this day:
“Though, in reviewing the incidents of [my time here in writing these articles], I am unconscious of intentional error. I am nevertheless too sensible of my defects not to think it probable that I may have committed many errors. Whatever they may be, I fervently beseech the Almighty to avert or mitigate the evils to which they may tend. I shall also carry with me the hope that [this family of readers of this column] will never cease to view them with indulgence, and that, after [all these] years of my life dedicated to its service with an upright zeal, the faults of incompetent abilities will be consigned to oblivion, as myself must soon be to the mansions of rest.
“Relying on [His] kindness in this as in other things, and actuated by that fervent love toward [all my reading friends] which is so natural to [anyone who has invested his life in its growth and ministry], I anticipate with pleasing expectation that [the future for all] will bring with it the sweet enjoyment of partaking in…the benign influence of [a] good[and most gracious God] – the ever-favorite object of my heart, and the happy reward, as I trust, of our mutual cares, labors, and [desires].”
To put it another way: I pray that the eyes of your hearts have been enlightened by God and His Word as we have examined over the past 27 years, the various truths therein, and that through Jesus Christ and His Spirit, you have been encouraged to live a more godly and fulfilled life.
Having said all of that, may I say one last time – just for the record…
God bless…
Selah!
Chuck Tabor is a regular columnist for this newspaper and a former pastor in the area. He may be reached at [email protected].
