FADING BEAUTY

This morning (Wednesday), when I looked out the kitchen window, I saw a beautiful sight. Many of the trees behind the parsonage were coated with a fine layer of ice, which the sun made to sparkle. There was one small tree just behind the house that really drew my attention. Normally, during the winter, it looks like a barren branch, but this morning it looked quite different. As the sun shined through the ice, it was really beautiful. In many ways, it was a winter wonderland. It’s amazing what God can do with a little water and sunshine!

But, now, it’s nearing 11 AM, and the ice has melted. What once was glimmering is now either evergreen or brown. How quickly the beauty has faded! It’s much like Isaiah 40:8 “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.” (ESV) There is much in this world that looks beautiful, exciting, and glorious at first, but the splendor quickly fades. Perhaps it is a new computer, TV, or car that you’ve been thinking of. Unfortunately, the initial excitement quickly wears off … technology gets outdated, vehicles get dirty and dinged, and what was new and exciting becomes “normal.”

Now, I don’t mean to sound negative … that’s not my purpose. It is fine to enjoy those moments of beauty and excitement, but we mustn’t get too caught up in the things that lose their splendor. Instead, we should focus on what lasts, as Colossians 3:1-2 reminds us; “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” (ESV) Further, we’ve been promised “an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.” (1Peter 1:4 ESV)

So, when you see a thing of fading beauty, let it lead to think of eternal beauty, and ultimately into worship of our God who is the creator of beauty and is eternal beauty in Himself.

In His grip,
Pastor Decker