ODJ: nothing lasts forever

April 6, 2015 

READ: Isaiah 40:1-8 

The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of our God stands forever (v.8).

A friend wrote, “As I reflect on the past four semesters of student life, so many things have changed . . . It is scary, really scary. Nothing lasts forever . . . Things just changed without much notification or maybe I just wasn’t aware.”

Indeed, many things can be altered in 2 years, like a career change, newfound friendship, illness, death—you name it. Life altering experiences wait just around the corner.

“Nothing lasts forever” is both a disconcerting as well as comforting thought. It disturbs in times of peace, and consoles in the depths of affliction.

To comfort the exiles in Babylon, the prophet Isaiah proclaimed that the mighty Babylonians would not stay strong forever. He wrote, ”People are like the grass. Their beauty fades as quickly as the flowers in a field” (Isaiah 40:6). As powerful as the Babylonians were, they resembled the flowers in Palestine that would flourish after the rain in April or May, but fade overnight when the hot winds blew.

But in contrast, the “word of our God stands forever” (v.8). God’s Word has survived and thrived generation after generation as a living and powerful book in the lives of millions of people. The reason is simple. God is eternal, and He’s faithful. He doesn’t grow tired, for His strength is endless. He doesn’t change in wisdom, for His knowledge is perfect. God reigns forever and will bring to pass all that He has promised in His Word.

—Poh Fang Chia

365-day-plan: 2 Samuel 12:1-25