Tormented by the Temporary

"While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal."

Some years ago, we had to buy a new washer/dryer. My late wife commented to the delivery man how fragile they seemed compared to our old ones. He replied, "These days nothing is made to last." He was right on one point but not the other. The truth is, since the Fall, nothing has ever been made to last. As a verse in the hymn says, "Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day; earth's joys grow dim; its glories pass away; change and decay in all around I see; O thou who changest not, abide with me."

Paul tells us if you can see it with the natural eye, it's temporal. The Bible refers to the material as, "stuff"; which will perish with the using thereof. Our little play things we hold so dear to our hearts are ultimately going to end up in ruins; rusting or rotting away. They're destined to pass away, they're fleeting as a cloud. Our houses, cars, clothes, computers, and books, along with a host of other "stuff," will in the end, have to be said farewell to. Jim Elliot had it right: "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose."

A.W. Tozer reminds us the unseen world described in scripture is the only real world. Therefore, we, like Moses of old, need to keep our eyes fixed by faith on the invisible. Only the eternal and spiritual are lasting! Sooner or later, you and I are going to have to part with our possessions, and I'm not necessarily speaking of this happening at death, ask Job. It may happen sooner than later. To the worldly-minded saint, the fact that nothing in this life is lasting is tormenting to him or her.

"If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth."

by an Aged Saint

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