The other night during some quiet time I was reflecting on the
permanence of God and the temporal nature of mankind and the Lord
brought Isaiah 40:6-8 to my mind.
6The voice said, Cry.
And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the
goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field:
7The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass.
8The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.
The
grass is an illustration of the temporary and perishable nature of
mankind. What is interesting to me is the phrase "all the goodliness
thereof." Goodliness is the Hebrew word checed. Here
it describes the goodness, kindness and faithfulness of man. Isn't it
interesting that the Lord tells us that while our flesh is indeed
temporal in nature, our goodness, kindness and faithfulness is even more
fleeting! Flowers though very pleasing to all the senses are beautiful
but for a relative moment. The same is true of our good works and the
best of our intentions only last a moment. Far more pervasive is our
penchant for sin, decay, destruction, corruption and evil. The Bible teaches that there is none
righteous. (Romans 3:10) This is why we need the redeeming blood of
Jesus Christ!
The other part of this that encouraged me this week is the reminder that
the Word of God stands forever. My pastor said something Sunday that
made an impression on me. He asked something to the effect of, "If you
don't believe in God, then how do you explain the mess we are in?" The
smarter we get and the more we evolve, it seems we are only capable of
creating bigger messes and more strife. We are incapable of fixing our
own problems in our own strength, much less the ailments of the world.
As our culture strays further from God's word it deteriorates more and
more.
God's word and principles are tried and true. They cannot be displaced
or replaced no matter how hard man may try. I encourage you to stand
firm on the promises and the principles of God's word in your life. The
world doesn't need us to do more of what they are already doing. We will
impact the world by being the salt and the light that Jesus calls us to
be. Let's get salty!
