things eternal

“Our Lord, you are eternal!  Your word will last as long as the heavens.  You remain faithful in every generation, and the earth you created will keep standing firm.”   Psalm 119:89-90 

Lately, I have been fixing my mind on the eternal nature of God and not on the fleeting things of this world.  I look at this immense and spectacular Lake Michigan, and reflect that it has been here every day of my life in Epworth Heights.  In fact, it is here even when I am not.  

I look at the sunset each night (if I can stay up late enough to see the sun set at this northern latitude!), and I remind myself that it will come up again tomorrow without any help from me.  

I say these words over and over again: “Your word will last as long as the heavens.”

But even the world has its limitations.  In the last week of June all of us in the upper Midwest were under a pall of smoke that created an inescapably eerie, post-apocalyptic scene.  Fires in Canada could be smelled and tasted as the wind brought them south.  It makes us realize how we are all connected and vulnerable and need to take seriously our steward roles for this precious gift of a planet. 

Jesus said that heaven and earth as we know it now will pass away, but his words will never pass away.  So, in reality God’s word will last longer than the heavens or the lake or the sun or anything that feels eternal to us.  Jesus IS the word.  He was in on the creation of it all and will transform it into a new heaven and a new earth one day.  In the meantime, we are called to treasure it and do our part to bless the earth and all its inhabitants. 

Love, Liz