Made to last (1)

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.

I’ll take Mozart…and the Fab Four!

Not long ago, as our daughter Ashley was tucking our two-year old granddaughter, Reagan, into bed, she asked her which music she would like to hear.

Now Reagan has varied music tastes: “Praise Babies” has been a big hit from early on, and she also enjoys the late Keith Green. The Gaithers loom large, as well as several other kids’ Gospel albums.

Reagan thought for a moment; then she said resolutely, “Mozart.”

We all laughed with delight, and I immediately began to ask myself, “What is it about Mozart that appeals to a two-year old, over two hundred years later – as much as to me?”

The next day, early for a meeting, I stopped for a cup of coffee and to catch up on the news of the day. In the background, music from The Beatles’ Abbey Road and White Album recordings was playing. As I read I became conscious of someone singing the lyrics to the different tunes – as, I admit, I was, too, but only in my head. I looked around to see a young woman, who could not have been much older than our oldest grandchild, singing along with every new track as she puzzled over some pages in a notebook.

I took out my own notebook and wrote the following: “What makes something a classic – what combination of thought, sentiment, and timing makes things last? Are there common features or components to a legacy that determine how far it reaches or how long it lasts?”

I’m quite sure that, in the world of secular culture and art, people would offer different answers to that question. Still, some writers, poets, composers, artists, and people are regarded by just about everyone as classics; their works and achievements will last beyond our day and well into the future.

Where to look

This is a question that should concern the followers of Jesus Christ. In our day of throw-away culture and living for the moment, people don’t seem too interested in things that last.

But the persistence of this question is everywhere visible. I recall reading a business book some years ago entitled, Built to Last. People still seek to have stadiums, highways, and airports named after themselves or those they admire. People who regard themselves as important beyond their lifetimes write memoirs, or arrange for others to do so. Parents establish trusts and legacies for their children. Keepsakes are preserved and carefully passed on to the next generation. Photo albums are compiled and hauled out from time to time to tell the next generation the stories of those who have gone before.

Human beings care about things that last.

But do we know how to make them?

As Christians, we could try to answer this question by observing our secular counterparts, and I’m sure we could gain some valid insights from that sector.

But if we really want to understand what lasts, and how to make things that last, we need to look to the only thing that will last forever – the Word of our God. The Scriptures can guide us in thinking about this question, because the Scriptures offer enduring wisdom, eternal counsel, and unfailing insight to the nature of people and things.

A matter of “talent” and glory

Every believer has been entrusted with a wealth of “talents” to invest for the Lord Jesus Christ and His Kingdom (Matt. 25.14-30). Our desire should be so to invest our time, strength, efforts, relationships, and everything else the Lord has entrusted to us so as to make a return of glory that will last throughout the ages and for all eternity.

We are called to glorify God – to make a lasting contribution of His presence and reality – in everything we do, all day long, even down to the most mundane and routine of activities (1 Cor. 10.31).

Impossible? Not if the glory of God is our aim. For the glory of the Lord endures forever. Nothing that brings to light the glory of the eternal God will ever be forgotten or ever fade.

This is not to say that we ourselves will be remembered. Such should hardly be our concern. We are only redeemed sinners, frail vessels of earth and flesh, no one to be admired or followed.

Except that Jesus is pleased to choose, call, redeem, indwell, endow, empower, and use us for the glory of God and the progress of His Kingdom. To the extent that we seek that Kingdom and remain focused on our eternal King and God, we may reasonably expect to make a lasting contribution of glory that will benefit others beyond our lifetime, and that will resound forever in the sacred halls and groves of the new heavens and the new earth.

This series is devoted to encouraging us in making such lasting contributions of glory. Over the next many installments of ReVision we will explore, following the teaching of Scripture, the question of what makes things last. And we will consider, at each step along the way, what we may do, right where we are, in order to make lasting contributions of our own, and to leave a legacy of praise to God for the generations to come.

Our secular and narcissistic age is largely content to live for the moment and to discard whatever does not satisfy the frail fickleness of human affections and flesh. Followers of Jesus Christ must not live this way. We serve a King Who lives forever, Who has invested us with eternal life, Who commands us to seek an unfading Kingdom, and Who empowers us with His indwelling and eternal Spirit to live above the insipidness and folly of our dying age. And on a great day yet to come, we will stand before our eternal King and see that He remembers all our deeds, and He rejoices in every lasting and glorious work we shall have done.

We are called to make lasting contributions. Let’s have a look together at how we can do this.

For reflection: Ask yourself, Do I intend to make a lasting contribution of glory through what I contribute in the Kingdom of God? What will this require of me?

For action: Forward the link to this column to some friends. Encourage them to read this column, and all the columns in this series. Plan to get together to talk about them and to stimulate and help one another to work on making lasting contributions to the glory of God.

T. M. Moore, Principal

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