THE OCTOBER 2017 PARK BENCH
OCTOBER, 2017 VOLUME 16 ISSUE 7
Greetings in the name of the Lord, Well….Fall has fallen! At least the calendar says so, but the ninety-degree thermometer today says it’s more like mid-July….. But change is ‘a comin’!
“The only constant we can be certain of is change”, said the Greek philosopher, Heraclitus. In making this statement, Heraclitus stated what many of us have always known to be true…. that there is very little around us in which we can be confident and secure with any level of certainty. Stock markets change, the value of a dollar changes as uncertainty prevails in different regions; the leaves change, even the mountains that appear so vast and unchanging are constantly eroding. And people change. Happiness is often fleeting, elusive; or both! And sorrow comes.
Such realities drive us to seek stability in our lives. Because of sin, however, we tend to look for permanence in things that are also changing. Whether it is a relationship, a bank account or something else, we all too often seek stability in the realm of created things….but all things in creation are subject to change.
To find true stability and constancy, we must look beyond the created order to the Creator, where in His Word we read, “the Lord God Almighty does not change” (Malachi 3:6) This should come as a great comfort in a world that is undergoes constant change and uncertainty.
We have recently begun studying the gospel of John on Sunday mornings. John begins his gospel differently than the other gospel writers. He does not begin with a Savior being born in a Bethlehem stable, but in a Savior that is the promise of the ages…the Ancient of Days, through whom all things were made. He is anchored in eternity. He is the only TRUE constant. Theologians refer to this inability to change as His immutability. Not only will He not change, He cannot change. The author of the book of Hebrews affirms this when he writes, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8)
The great seventeenth century Scottish Pastor, Samuel Rutherford, wrote, “Build not your nest on any tree of earth, seeing God has sold the forest to Death. But rather soar upwards to the sure and immutable refuge in the Clefts of the Rock.” What a blessing that the Anchor of our soul now sits at the right hand of the Father interceding on our behalf. The cross on which He died provides even and stable ground for all of us sinners who change our minds and allegiances like the wind. We see unstable allegiances in politics; at our favorite sporting events; in the media….and sadly, we even see it in churches. But we will NEVER see it in our Great God and Savior.
We live in a fallen world, and so it can be easy to become fearful as we are constantly barraged by a steady news diet of tragedy, wars, rumors of wars… Change is ever present, and not every change is positive.
If we trust in Christ, however, we have no need to fear. We are relying on the One who is incapable of changing and who will never allow His promises to fail. When we are fearful, let us remember that God and His goodness to us are unchanging; thus, we are ever secure in Him. May His name be forever blessed as we march forward remembering these things in days of uncertainty.
In His Service,
Pastor George