Glen Head
In the beginning, the words fell on deaf ears as my children talked about the first day of fall fast approaching. I was busy. I had other things more important to deal with at the time (I thought). They were all giddy and excited about the small changes they knew would come: cooler temps, shorter days, leaves changing colors, and all the kid stuff that would surely come with this season.
A week later as I remember their words, I sit back and smile. My children are excited about God’s creation and the everyday routine of it that started so many years ago. They have not forgotten the little things. I have. I am thankful that God has given us time to reflect on His power and greatness. I am thankful that God has given us reminders so that we do not forget that He is with us in all beginnings. As Christians, we are reminded of our Creator in the very beginning of things (Gen. 1:1). Just knowing that, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1) gives us great comfort in the Lord we serve. All the while the world reflects upon chance as their beginning. (Continued) (continued from front) As the world talks about global warming and how man is changing the environment for the worse, the seasons still come and go and we see the beginning and the end of God’s creation in every detail. Newness of animal life in the spring along with trees and other vegetation coming alive from a period of rest. The enjoyment of vegetables in the summer (I know there is more, but now I am thinking of those things that will be missed: tomato sandwiches, fresh fried okra, fresh stewed squash and zucchini). Then the beautiful colors of the foliage in fall as the trees prepare for a long rest. And then the deadness and cold of winter as one looks out of one’s window.
How can one forget about God and His promises? “While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease” (Gen. 8:22). Even in the dead of winter there are beginnings and renewings. Relationships will be renewed and busy family lives will slow a bit for that much needed rehabilitation time. As with the change from a cold dead winter to a colorful and rejuvenated earth in the springtime, man also has these changes within himself. When one focuses on doing the will of God and has obeyed God’s plan of salvation, that person has a new beginning. They have become a new creation. What once was dead to God because of sin has been made alive because of Christ and His love for mankind. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Cor. 5:17).
I am thankful that God’s Word holds true in all things and we can be reassured that God controls all. Even the little things. “And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son” (Rev. 21:5-7).
