Devotion Booklets for Seasons of the Church Year 2016 | Page 17

Wednesday—December 7th

The Word of our God Will Stand Forever
Isaiah 40:6-10
As fall goes on, the natural world undergoes noticeable changes. Temperatures drop, days
shorten, and the green leaves of summer become yellow, orange, and red. Then they turn
brown, fall off the trees, and die. Same goes for the grass, flowers, and bushes. The ground
becomes full of dead leaves and branches, which in many parts of the world are then covered
with snow.
As life goes on, the human body also undergoes noticeable changes. Hair thins, wrinkles
spread, eyes grow dim, and backs begin to stoop. Finally, inevitably, the last season of life
draws to a close and we die. Our bodies are placed into a coffin or urn, or scattered into the
wind. As God told Adam, “dust you are, and to dust you shall return.”
The grass withers, the flowers fade, and because of our sin, so do our bodies. And yet the
Word of the Lord stands forever. In that Word, we are taught that death is not the way it
should be. Death is not God’s plan for his people. And so the Word of the Lord, written down
in the Bible, details God’s plan from all eternity to save us from death. The Word of the Lord
tells us about Jesus, whose perfect life and innocent death have changed everything. In him we
have forgiveness of all our sins, an earthly life free from guilt, and a resurrection to eternal life
in heaven.
Fall comes every year. You can’t stop it. You can’t stop death either. And yet, because of
Jesus, death doesn’t scare us anymore. The Word of the Lord has given us a solution for fear,
an answer for death, and a reason for sure and certain hope. By the grace of God, just like the
Word of the Lord, we too will “stand forever.”
PRAYER:
Dear Lord, our lives on this earth are just fleeting, tiny moments on the scale of eternity. And
yet by giving your life in our place you given us the eternal gift of heaven. Help us to use our
earthly lives to thankfully serve you. Amen.
ACTIVITY:
Have each person pick one random item in the room. Then, discuss the “lifespan” of that item.
Where did it come from/where was it made? How quickly will it break/wear out/be replaced?
What happens to it then? (For example, you might track a kitchen plate from the factory, to
the store, to your house, and then once it breaks, to the garbage can and the dump.)
Eventually everything wears out and is destroyed. But in contrast, the Word of the Lord - and
because of Jesus, our bodies - will stand forever!

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