By David ReayFriday 1 Dec 2017LifeWords DevotionalsFaithReading Time: 0 minutes
Transcript:
Read Psalm 103:15-17
15 Our days on earth are like grass;
like wildflowers, we bloom and die.
16 The wind blows, and we are gone—
as though we had never been here.
17 But the love of the Lord remains forever
with those who fear him.
His salvation extends to the children’s children. (NLT)
Not very far from where my own home is, other homes are being demolished to make room for apartments. Old and distinguished homes are here one day and gone the next. Homes which have provided so many memories, so much refuge, witnessed so many challenges. All now gone, and those who come to live in the new places will know nothing about them.
That sort of thing gets us thinking about transience: the fact that none of us lasts forever. As our text reminds us, we bloom and die. There will come a time when no one will even remember we existed. Which can cause us to become rather despondent.
This passage offers us some hope, in that we are reminded God’s love goes on and on, his purposes are being fulfilled. We play some part in all that, but we are not the whole story. We are those who take part in a play for a time and exit stage left. We don’t know what happens in the rest of the play.
Another consolation is not mentioned in this text but has to do with the legacies we leave. True, we don’t live on this earth forever. But we can have made a difference, even if it is not always directly recognised. The way we live our lives, the impact we have on others, can linger even as we ourselves have entered a new season of life in Christ.
We who live only for a moment can bequeath blessings to others. And the brief moment we live on earth gives way to unimaginable and indescribable eternity with our Maker.
Blessings
David Reay