TO CHEW ON: "The grass withers, the flower fades,
Because the breath of the Lord blows upon it;
Surely the people are grass.
The grass withers, the flower fades,
But the word of our God stands forever." Isaiah 40:7,8
Who can read Isaiah 40:1-17 and not hear the strains of Handel's Messiah echo in the belfry of imagination? "Comfort Ye, Comfort Ye My People," "Every Valley Shall Be Exalted," "And the Glory of the Lord Shall Be Revealed," "He Shall Feed His Flock." It's a reminder, Advent is all but upon us. Again! So soon!
This Christmas we will all be one year older than last year, and one year closer to our own grass-withering, flower-fading end. In fact, some of the loved ones who were with us last Christmas are already gone.
But there is something that lasts. "The word of our God stands forever." The longevity of Isaiah's words, which Handel helped immortalize for us, is an object lesson of this. Isaiah has been dead for over two and a half millennia. Handel died two and a half centuries ago (in 1759). Yet God's word lives on in Scripture, in song, and in the hearts of each generation that encounters it.
My own fragile mortality in contrast to God's invincible, indestructible Word reminds me to place my hope and spend the short time I have on things that God's Word recommends and approves.
PRAYER: Dear God, please help me to make Your word my standard, my light, my food, my song, my guide, my meditation, my hiding place. May my short life have significance as I anchor it on Your indestructible word. Amen.
MORE: God's word is:
Our Standard - Psalm 119:5-6, 11
Light - Psalm 119:105, 130
Food - Psalm 119:103, Jeremiah 15:16
Song - Psalm 119:54
Meditation material - Psalm 119:97
Fire - Jeremiah 23:29
Hiding place - Psalm 119:114
Guide - Psalm 119:133
Hammer - Jeremiah 23:29
Sword - Ephesians 6:17, Hebrews 4:12
Seed - 1 Peter 1:23
Mirror - James 1:22-25
Effective - Isaiah 55:11
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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
