For 157 straight Sundays, I wore the same blue, checkered, button-up shirt to church. I’m not exaggerating. A creature of habit I must be, because I loved wearing that shirt. Sadly, however, the beautiful blue checks started to wear thin, and my treasured church wear ended up in the garbage can.
According to Solomon, that is how life “under the sun” works (Ecclesiastes 1:14). All the things of earth, even the things we treasure, are temporary. “Everything is meaningless,” Solomon lamented, which was his way of saying that nothing lasts all that long (Ecclesiastes 1:2). Not just clothes, but friends, family, comfort, control, praise, productivity, money, and health all come and go, no matter how hard we pray for them to endure. This reality is why we worry so much about tomorrow. We might lose something we love.
This, by contrast, is why I adore GOD. Our GOD is eternal. He is everlasting. He endures forever. While anything might leave us and anyone could forsake us, GOD has promised: “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5). The good news is not that GOD is loving or forgiving or merciful, but that he is eternal. That means his love and forgiveness and mercy endure forever.
In the days to come, I want us to appreciate the eternal nature of GOD. In a world where everything is fleeting, GOD’s presence is the one thing we can always rely on. That truth is enough to give us true peace.
