Goodness, Life and Principle

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!