Bible

Bible

All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field. The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them. Surely the people are grass. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.

Isaiah 40:6-8, NIV

I have always loved reading these verses from Isaiah because of the last phrase: “but the word of our God stands forever.” Those few words remind me that God’s Word has an eternal shelf life. Unlike grass or flowers, it never dies. Throughout the Bible we are likened to grass as a reminder of our human frailty. Lest we get to thinking we are invincible and will live here forever, God’s Word points out that our earthly lives are temporary.

In Palestine, grass is green from April through October, when there’s plenty of rain. But when the dry season comes, the grass dries up and withers. Flowers provide us with another example of the transience of our lives. Flowers are beautiful and wonderful. They bud, sprout, and burst forth with color and aroma. When flowers from our gardens hit that bursting point, we sometimes cut them, bringing them into our houses to enjoy in a vase or an arrangement. But whether we leave them growing outside or bring them inside, individual flowers and blooms very quickly begin to droop. Their color and fragrance fade.

When we contrast the length of bloom our lives have with the length of bloom the Scriptures have, we realize that we can never put too much emphasis on God’s Word. In all the demands of motherhood, it’s so easy for us to let other seemingly urgent things crowd out our reading, meditating upon, and praying over God’s Word. But in the context of eternity, what is most lasting and important?

God of the Bible,

Thank you for the incredible value and life of your Word. May we make time each day to read it, and then may we choose to obey it. Amen.