For all people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord endures forever. And this is the word that was preached to you.
- 1 Peter 1:25
When I go digging through the fridge or the pantry and find something I’d forgotten was there, I immediately look for the expiration date. The last thing I want to do is take a swig of sour milk or bite into moldy bread. All food goes bad eventually.
All food, that is, except honey. So long as it’s left sealed, honey’s natural properties allow it to remain edible not just for weeks, but for years. In fact, archaeologists have found pots filled with honey in Egyptians tombs dating back thousands of years—and it’s still good to eat! Honey, unlike other foods, has no expiration date.
In our world, most things are more like milk than honey, eventually susceptible to the ravages of time. All you have to do is look at a magazine from 50 years ago to see how much the world changes over the years, how outdated even the most permanent-seeming things become after a little while.
But
God’s Word has no expiration date. Changing times may color how we read the
Bible, but the Word remains the same for us as it was for Peter and Paul. Our
task is never to read Scripture through the lens of culture, but vice versa—for
it is by casting the light of eternity on the whims of today that we are able
to discern what is ultimately true.
No comments:
Post a Comment