Memory Monday: Enduring Forever (Isaiah 40:8)

When I was little, my mom used to save tin foil to reuse it. I remember her washing the tin foil when she did the dishes. She would use each piece at least twice. I’m pretty sure she did it to save money, but as a kid, I remember wondering why anyone would wash tin foil when you could just buy more at the store.

Our kids live in an even more disposable society than the one in which we grew up. Television and movies scream at our kids that they need the newest and best stuff. If they don’t like what they have, they should get rid of it and replace it with something newer and better.

And in this throw-away society, we no longer build things to last a long time. My girls are still playing with some toys that my mother played with when she was a child. I’d be hard-pressed to come up with many toys that my kids have today that I think will last through three generations of kids playing with them.

As products of this society, our kids have learned not to expect things to last. They are taught that everything is relative. You can change your belief system as easily as you can change your shirt. Things aren’t supposed to last forever without changing.

Against that backdrop, it’s easy to see why our kids can have a tough time understanding that God’s word is forever. Nothing in their lives seems to last, so why would they expect God’s word to do so?

Isaiah 40:8 says “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.” Our kids need to know that the Bible isn’t just another book to be read and tossed aside. It’s the unchangeable word of God. It speaks to our lives today just as much as it spoke to the lives of the first century Christians.

• Use the Bible when you talk with your kids. Bring scripture into your conversation. If your child is struggling with an issue, find a verse that speaks to it. Show them that the Bible is relevant to their lives today.

• Talk with your kids about some of the people who wrote the Bible. Explain that while the Bible was written by some amazing men like Moses, Daniel, Matthew, Luke and Paul, it was God that told them what to write.

• Show your kids where the events of the Bible fit into world history. When your kids see the events of the Bible in context with the rest of history, they get a better picture of how God has worked throughout history. It also gives them a concrete idea of how much time has passed between the time the Bible was written and now, which helps them understand how God’s word has stood the test of time.

• Learn Isaiah 40:8 with your children this week. Pick or buy a flower. Place it in a vase with water and measure how long it takes for the flower to wilt and die. Talk about how this verse compares the fleetingness of a flower with the enduring power of God’s word.

God’s word is as true and unchanging as God himself. His word offers wisdom, comfort, direction and peace – and unlike that tin foil my mom washed, it endures forever.