The summer heat withers my grass, which dies out completely if I fail to water. Soon fall will bring overnight freezes, and my flowers will drop their petals. The work of the seasons brings life to my garden beds, and shuts them down as well.

With his eyes on the gardens of Jerusalem, Isaiah wrote: All people are like grass, and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field. The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them. Surely the people are grass. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.

My faithfulness to God may lush up at times, or wither away in dry heat. I live through days of plenty and spells of drought. But even as my dedication waxes and wanes, the Lord remains steady.

In the midst of challenges, of the fading I undergo, I can pick up the one encouragement always within reach—the word of our God. Unlike everything else in this world, my Bible doesn’t wither or fade. Its words endure. Which is good for me to remember when my shallow hopes lose their luster.

Isaiah 40 in Through the Bible in 2024

Photo by Danielle-Claude Bélanger