“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, ESV)
When I look outside in the wintertime the flowers are gone and the grass is dormant. This is the picture we have in these verses as it relates to the seasons of life. Man’s life fades away like the grass and the flowers of the field. Life is brief and its splendor is for a moment. Now on this happy note then, “Why should we be optimistic?” Isaiah records several reasons for rejoicing in the midst of life’s brevity. I will look at those in the next several devotions. The first reason we have here. We ought to be optimistic and rejoice because “the word of our God will stand forever.”
While our bodies are temporal and fading away, we have something that will never fail and never pass away. Jesus gave us the answer when He stated, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away” (Matthew 24:35, ESV). The Word of God is eternal. They are the “words of eternal life” (John 6:68). Unlike everything else that is temporal, God’s Word is eternal. This means that the words of eternal life will never fail and this eternal life is in every true believer. For me, the assurance of eternal life is something to “shout about.” We shall never die and we can count on it.
Paul wrote regarding the frailty of the body in a letter to the Corinthians where he stated, “Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day“ (2 Corinthians 4:16, ESV). He understood the frailty of life, but also understood an inner strength, a renewal that occurred every day. What brings this renewal? Since transformation comes by the renewing of our minds and the Spirit of God indwells us, this renewal comes through the work of the Spirit and the eternal word of God.
Since believers have the eternal word, it puzzles me that so many devote themselves to earthly temporal things. Why spend so much time on stuff that will not last? Why do we not spend time on things that will last forever? I would never spend time, resources and energy, building a house out of cardboard boxes, for the first big rain would bring it crashing down. So why would I devote all my time, resources and energy to something that will perish? God’s Word will never perish. It will never fail.
Let us keep our heart’s devotion focused on that which will last forever. Make sure we prioritize the Word of God in our lives. For the word of God is eternal. It has great power to transform our lives today and it gives us the assurance of a glorious future, eternal life.
Renewing the Heart 