Words that Shall Not Fade

Not long ago I stopped at a local cemetery to observe the headstones of those who had passed on many years ago. I am interested in local history, but I do not have the great knowledge of this area and its ancestry that many others do. As I walked along I noticed that this cemetery had obviously been around longer than many. Some birth dates of the deceased stretched back into the 1700s. I read each name and each date carefully. Some stones represented lives that were long and full of blessings. Others represented lives that lasted only a few days and were difficult. Death truly touches us all.

But out of all the things that I was able to gather that afternoon in the cemetery - the names, the dates, the people, and the experiences - one thing stays with me even to today. On many headstones the words had been faded and worn. The passing seasons and the harshness of many suns and storms had literally wiped away the words that had once been carved. These stones still stood for people, and lives, and experiences, and dates - but I could not know them. Somewhere along the way these stones had been forgotten. Someone forgot to take care of them and make sure that their words could still be seen.

Immediately I thought about my time on earth and what it might mean. I wondered if 200 years from now someone would walk by my headstone and not be able to read my name, nor anything about me. I wondered if they would want to know who I was.

We live in world that is passing away (1 John 2:17). Things get older with time and the years wear down those things that are physical until they become as nothing (James 1:11). A home, a car, a piece of furniture, or even a headstone often lose its use-fullness and is cast away. The Bible says, "All flesh is grass, and all the loveliness like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, because the breath of the Lord blows upon it; Surely the people are like grass" - (Isaiah 40:6,7). Our humanity is ever before us.

But God be thanked that this is not all that has been said or promised. In Isaiah 40:8 He continues by saying, "The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever." How wonderful that statement is! There is no time that can take away the glory of our God and the words that tell us about Him! He is "the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth", Who "never faints nor is weary" (Isaiah 40:28). He is "from everlasting to everlasting" - (Psalm 90:2). His words are settled and eternal (Ps. 119:89), and He offers us a life that will never fade away (John 3:16).

The apostle Peter stated: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you" (1 Pet. 1:4). What a wonderful promise awaits those who love God and are willing to obey and live by His wonderful plan of salvation. How great it is to know that the words of this promise will never fade away!

I don't know what my headstone will read. I don't know about how long it will be read. But I do know that the words of the Lord's promise endure forever, and that my name can be written in His book eternally (Rev. 3:5). Have you had your name carved in it yet?

"… and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away" - 1 Pet. 5:4