Make a difference – Day 16

… through the living and enduring word of God. 1 Peter 1:23

Quality and endurance are important features of everything in life. If you needed to buy a car, wouldn’t you look for something sturdy that drives well and would keep you safe? And wouldn’t it also have to be reliable and trusted to last? So, don’t you get annoyed when your new cellphone suddenly won’t allow you to text, a few months after you bought it; or when the leg falls off the chair in your lounge or your child’s patiently awaited Christmas present lasts only a few days?

We live in a world where things don’t last, regardless of how much you pay for them, not even the special things that should. Yet, we always hope to find something better which will.

Even so, it’s not only material things that get broken and cause us problems. When morals and ethics in society erode, it causes instability and angst; promises, vows and trust get broken causing misery and distrust; relationships break down and homes fragment, causing people to question the integrity within them.

Everything that has its roots in this world is fragile, but whatever is rooted in God is imperishable. We need to be wise to see the whole picture and not just look at the fraction of it that makes up our daily life. We need to know our Creator, who is unchanging, and Jesus Christ who saves us from ourselves, by forgiving our sins and leading us to heaven.

Everything we need for life and eternity is found in the Bible – the word that is alive, the word that will last forever, whether it is written or spoken.

Once, when some of his disillusioned followers turned back, Jesus asked his disciples if they also wanted to leave him. Peter, who wrote this letter, replied, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (John 6:68). Peter had the wisdom to know where his hope lay. Many people think it’s smart to “shop around” for the truth in the vast array of choices the world offers, but it’s the experience of God’s word, which alone is solid and trustworthy, and will never fail or break, that helps us find the meaning of our life on earth and after.

Jesus himself said: “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall because it had its foundation on the rock.” (Matthew 7:24-25)