RUSTING AND ROTTING IN MIST OF LIFE
Monday, December 30, 2013
Isaiah [GW] 40:5-8 And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it. 6 The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall
I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of
the field: 7 The grass withereth, the
flower fadeth: because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the
people is grass. 8 The grass withereth,
the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.
James 4:14-16 You don't know what will happen tomorrow.
What is life? You are a mist that is seen for a moment and then disappears. 15 Instead, you should say, "If the Lord
wants us to, we will live and carry out our plans." 16 However, you brag because you're arrogant.
All such bragging is evil.
1Peter 1:3-9; 18-25 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto
a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 To an inheritance incorruptible, and
undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 Who are kept by the power of God through
faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a
season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: 7 That the trial of your faith, being much more
precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be
found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: 8 Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom,
though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and
full of glory: 9 Receiving the end of
your faith, even the salvation of your souls. . . . 18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not
redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain
conversation received by tradition from your fathers; 19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of
a lamb without blemish and without spot: 20
Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was
manifest in these last times for you, 21
Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave
him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God. 22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying
the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye
love one another with a pure heart fervently: 23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed,
but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. 24 For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory
of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof
falleth away: 25 But the word of the
Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached
unto you.
In a few days I’ll
maybe complete my 78th year and start my 79th. One of the
notable additional experiences of aging is the much increased flow of news of
deaths of family, friends, acquaintances, coworkers, beloved pets, culture,
places, ventures, et al. (I weekly average 2 to 4 obits of coworkers alone.)
And sooner than expected it will be my turn or yours.
It’s not just
obits that remind, the media thrives on telling us such news. Then this morning
young pal Dave shared a website of photos of 38 once thriving but now lonely
abandoned places: http://distractify.com/culture/arts/the-most-spectacular-abandoned-places-in-the-world/
Even with
diligent preventative maintenance, rot, rust, demise are sure events. Everything
being and thing ages and deteriorates . . . with the exception of the Word Living
(Jn.1:1) and written (Isa.40:8; 1Pet.1:24-25) . . . and thereby those of us enlivened
forever by Him (1Pet.1:23).
Jesus, The Word
Living tells us “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and
rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for
yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and
where thieves do not break through nor steal:
For where your
treasure is, there will your heart be also.
The light of the
body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full
of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy
whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be
darkness, how great is that darkness!
No man can serve
two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he
will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
Therefore I say
unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall
drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than
meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not,
neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth
them. Are ye not much better than they?
Which of you by
taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for
raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not,
neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his
glory was not arrayed like one of these.
Wherefore, if God
so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into
the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore
take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or,
Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles
seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
But seek ye first
the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added
unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take
thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”
(Mt.6:19-34)
EBB4
No comments:
Post a Comment