Bruce Collins, Evangelist

The personal website of Bruce Collins

Meditation for the week of August 19, 2007

Deuteronomy 33:26-27
“There is no one like the God of Jeshurun, Who rides the heavens to help you, And in His excellency on the clouds. The eternal God is your refuge, And underneath are the everlasting arms; He will thrust out the enemy from before you, And will say, ‘Destroy!’ (NKJV)

Life seems so temporary when you get older. When I was in elementary school, summer vacation seemed like an eternity. This summer has almost passed me by before it seemed to get started. James says life is like steam out of a tea kettle that rises and vanishes (James 4:14). Nothing on this planet is permanent. When we buy new cars, we think we will have them forever. Then when they begin to need repairs we are reminded that from the moment we drove them out of the showroom, we were driving a used car. Even the earth which seems so permanent is temporary and will one day be destroyed according to Peter (2 Peter 3:10.)

Even though life is temporary, society is constantly changing. This last century has seen more changes in the way we live than in all of the preceding history of man since Noah. We can now fly. We also travel in automobiles and trains and motorcycles . We now communicate around the globe almost instantaneously by email, or by cell phones. Space ships travel to the moon and probe the outer reaches of our solar system. Along with these changes, many would like to believe that God has also changed, but God is eternal. According to Hebrews 13:8, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He says that He is the One who always has and always will exist (Revelation 1:8). God is the one constant in life. He has revealed Himself in different ways at different times. He has worked in different ways at different times, but He Himself is the one great constant in life.

Philosophers have questioned the existence of God because they cannot understand how someone who has no beginning can exist. I don’t understand that either but I can see that God exists. The fact that His creation exists is evidence that He exists. The fact that He could tell us all about Christ and how He would be born and die long before it happened indicates that He not only exists but that He tells us all about Himself. He says that He is eternal and that He is from everlasting to everlasting (Psalm 90:2).

Knowing that God is eternal means that we who are temporary can not put Him in a box and understand Him. We cannot make Him Who we want Him to be because He is Who He is. But only an eternal God could give us eternal life. And when this temporary body fails and when this temporary life ends, those of us who have made plans for eternity have a place prepared for us that is eternal in the heavens (2 Corinthians 5:1). That place will not be like our new cars. When that place would normally be considered old, it will still be new. A mind that is constrained by time cannot fathom the concept of eternity. Even the Bible describes eternity by using time. In Revelation 20:10, those who rebel against God are tormented day and night for ever and ever.

Since eternity is so long and time is so short, preparing for eternity would seem to be the prudent thing to do. Most who do not believe in a Creator God would likely admit that they expect something to continue forever after they die. They would just like to believe that they will not be conscious or held accountable to God during eternity. I personally think that is a terrible mistake to make.

So when life seems to be going faster than I would like it to go; and when changes occur that I am not ready for, I am comforted by the fact that I am just that much closer to the eternal God who sent His Son so that I might have my sins forgiven and enjoy eternal life. Since God does not change, I am confident that I can count on the eternal God with the everlasting arms to meet me when this temporary life is over.

Bruce Collins

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