A voice says, “Cry!” And
I said, “What shall I cry?” All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the
flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the
LORD blows on it; surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower
fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. (Isaiah 40:6-8)
As I’m writing this, it’s
a dreary, damp, gusty afternoon. A chill is in the air, and the leaves on the
trees are changing to shades of yellow. The cornfield beyond them continues to
brown as it nears being ready to harvest. I love this time of year! I love
taking drives to see the fall colors. I love that the hot, sticky days of
summer are gone. I don’t mind that the season to follow brings all that white
stuff and the promise of ice fishing…but let’s stick with fall for a few more
weeks!
You know as well as I do
that as beautiful as the foliage is, it’s a sign of the leaves dying and
preparing to fall off the trees. Soon enough, it will still be fall, but it
will be time to rake all the leaves up off the ground. The beautiful view as we
look out and up will be filled with bare sticks and tree limbs for about the
next five months.
This time of year always
seems to bring me back to Isaiah 40—to this reminder that we and our glory, as
the NIV puts it, are bound to wither and fade like grass and flowers. That’s
kind of a bummer, isn’t it? Maybe we think about the fall colors or even the
most vibrant flowers that have bloomed over the summer months and wish we could
have those all the time! Part of me says, though, if that were the case, we’d
just get used to them. They wouldn’t be so special for the short number of
weeks that we get them each year. We know the comparison holds truth, though.
As much as people talk about legacy and creating something that will last
beyond our years, our lives are short! We are to live and enjoy what God gives
and honor him with how we live our lives. We are to bear fruit for a time, but
eventually we are gone from this earth. We’ll be forgotten.
Yet something remains in
the passage, …The word of our God will stand forever.” What is that “word”?
If we broaden out in Isaiah 40, we see this is a passage in which God is
proclaiming comfort to his people. He’s proclaiming the coming of the Messiah,
the hope of Israel! The almighty, everlasting God, who all humanity is to put
their hope in and find strength and renewal will be revealed and remain! Living
on the New Testament side of history, we know that the word of God standing
forever is ultimately the gospel of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior who came
and lived obediently, died and rose again for our atonement, forgiveness, and
salvation, and has ascended and reigns—and we await his return!
I know I just said if we
had flowers blooming year-round and vibrant colors on trees throughout every
season, they wouldn’t be so special, but this is different. Or at least, it
should be! It can be easy after some time, having heard about what Jesus offers
hundreds if not thousands of times, to just check that off in our lives and
move on. Yet every one of us daily needs our Savior, we daily need the
faithfulness of God, we always need his love. The word of the Lord is not a
creature like the grass, the flowers, the leaves, or like us. The word of the
Lord comes from the everlasting God, the Creator and Redeemer, who promises to
never leave his people and who is renewing all things! The LORD stands forever.
Turn to him, continue to see him as special, and never forget his beauty!
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