Withering Grass

Human pride, what the Greeks called hubris, is a strange and unreasonable thing. It leads us to form an estimate of ourselves that is far too high, at least according to the Bible. We naturally think of ourselves as worthy of love and deserving of respect because of who we are or what we have done or how we have been gifted. Yet with one broad stroke Scripture paints us as flowers of the grass that soon wither (Jas 1:10). Great and small, rich and poor alike appear for a short while, and then fade away like front lawn blades that wither under the sun’s scorching heat. Experience confirms it. Just as a flower’s beauty perishes (Jas 1:11), so one’s outward appearance exhibits the ravages of time. Various creases, losses and illnesses multiply as the years rack up and prove that our bodies are ephemeral, at least in this life. Our earthly existence is fleeting! The inescapable truth is that life is short, beauty is vain, and sin is misery.

In light of this, the Psalmist prays that God would teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom (Ps 90:12). Considering our frailty as well as the shortness and uncertainty of life, we ought to realize that there is no room for human pride. Such meditations, if sincerely pondered and suitably applied, ought to lead us to seek true wisdom, that is, to seek the Lord Jesus Christ (cf. Col 2:3). The swift approach of death and the vast expanse of eternity should lead to a heartfelt trust in and earnest embrace of the One who alone can give us hope of a blessed future. Let the march of time and ravages of age motivate our thought, and let us apply ourselves to the humble pursuit of genuine godliness, for that is wise. The Lord Jesus is an inestimable treasure on whom we may rest our confidence, in whom we may find inexpressible joy (1Pt 1:8), and from whom we may receive the words of eternal life (Jn 6:68). Ponder and be wise!

A Lottery Life

There is something beautiful about symmetry. It is pleasing to the eye. By contrast, irregularity and unevenness and lop-sidedness seem distasteful and ugly. The Law says No one who has a blemish shall draw near, such as one who has a limb too long (Lev 21:18). Such a man could not serve the altar because, being asymmetrical, he was blemished. Symmetry is beautiful. Perhaps nowhere is this more evident than in a uniform life. When a man’s thoughts, words and actions harmonize the result is like a beautiful fugue. Yet too many in our day have lives that are disorderly and irregular. Their minds, mouths and manners are all at odds and disproportionate. Their experience is not all of one piece. Sometimes right, sometimes wrong, normally confused, often inconsistent, there is no uniform godliness. Their lives are like a lottery in which thoughts, words and actions are jumbled together and governed by “chance”.

This helps to explain David’s prayer, Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name (Ps 86:11). He longs for a well-ordered life, when all is done well with a single focus, a united heart. Not a multiplicity of ends but one overarching purpose predominates. For us it means an eye fixed on Christ and a clear sense of final judgment. Under the Spirit’s blessing this brings harmony to all the disparate aspects our lives. Teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom (Ps 90:12). A divided mind and wavering heart will produce an inconsistent life, a man who is unstable in all his ways (Jas 1:8). But one who knows Jesus and his own mortality, expecting the consummation of all things, will enjoy increasing symmetry in knowledge to think well, grace to speak well and power to live well to the glory of God.