ENDURING, CHANGELESS, PERMANENT

We see trees sprout to life and then crumble to decay.  We witness nations rise to power and then fall to extinction.  We rejoice as children are greeted into the world and then we weep as friends are ushered into eternity. With so much change within and without, at times we wonder if there is anything enduring, changeless, and permanent to hold on to.  Thankfully, our Heavenly Father assures us that a few such things do exist.

First, God tells us that His Word is enduring.  I Peter 1:25 says that “the word of the Lord endureth forever.” Isaiah declared in the long ago, “the grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand forever” (Isa. 40:8).  No wonder Jesus could announce, “heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away” (Matt. 24:35).  How grateful we should be for God’s enduring word!

Also, God reveals to us that His nature is changeless.  Hear Malachi 3:6: “For I am the Lord, I change not.”  The Hebrew writer also said something about this: “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever (Heb. 13:8).  Having to constantly put up with the fickle and unstable ways of mankind, it is relaxing to know that our Lord is unchanging.

And in addition to these things, God says that His reward to the faithful is permanent.  Peter made reference to “an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time (I Pet. 5:4).  Because no armies will invade, no fires will destroy, and no landlords will evict, we can have confidence in the permanent abode of the righteous.

As our emotions are swept back and forth by the swift tides of time and change, may our hearts be anchored by remembering the enduring word, changeless nature, and permanent reward of God.

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