My Dying Lawn and the Word of God

Brown and scraggly. Accurate adjectives to describe what the grass in my yard looks like these days. And my guess is that if you live anywhere close to where I live in eastern Pennsylvania, you know what I am talking about. I have not had to cut my grass for quite some time now due to a lack of rainfall. And if these dry conditions continue, I probably won't have to cut it for some time to come (which, I must admit I am OK with!).

This condition of my grass reminds me of a verse from the Old Testament. In Isaiah 40:8 we read, "The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever." The prophet is making a contrast that we all can get our minds around. All of us have seen grass withering (like right now) and flowers falling. Been there, seen that! But in contrast to that, we can have complete confidence in God's Word. It will never wither ... it will never fall. It will stand FOREVER!

This is a truth that is under attack in our "postmodern" world today. Even some who profess allegiance to Jesus, question the authority of God's Word. These individuals have bought into the view that to claim that the Bible is absolute truth and therefore authoritative for faith and practice is a claim of arrogance. But such a claim is not an arrogant claim ... I believe it is a biblical claim. Please take a moment and read the following quote which I found to be quite insightful and helpful:

"Jesus taught that absolute truth is knowable. He also taught that truth is found in the Word of God. Biblical leaders must take heed to Jesus' prayer in John 17:17 when he prayed to his Father, "Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth." Jesus believed that the sanctification of his followers would be the result of the truth of the Word of God. Truth is not a social construct. An individual, a culture, or even a community of believers, does not create it. Nor is it relative as some claim. The God of truth, through revelation, both natural and special, communicates it to us, his creatures. He does this in diverse ways (Hebrews 1:1-3), including the use of language and propositions. Over seventy-five times Jesus proclaimed, "I tell you the truth," with a certain knowledge that truth does in fact exist." (Gary Bredfeldt, Great Leader Great Teacher: Recovering the Biblical Vision for Leadership)

So the Word of God stands today. It is true and it is absolutely true. Therefore, we must submit to it in every arena of life. And as we do we will begin to experience the reality described in 1 John 5:3: "This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome."

Thanks for stopping by . . .

pj