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Picture of the Day
I recently saw a very interesting news story that I want to share with you today. On a farm in rural Minnesota, Michael Deering is harvesting memories. Every day he takes a single picture. Calls it, as you would expect, the “Picture of the Day.” But he prints it out on a four by six piece of paper. He started this 26 years ago, and now he has over 9000 images. All stored away in a fireproof safe. He documents everything from the ordinary to the extraordinary: Food. Cars. People. The birth of his son. His father's funeral. And everything in between. When interviewed he said, “If you want to know where you're going, look back. I look at my pictures as the breadcrumbs on the trail of life. Everyone should take inventory of their life.” When I heard that story, I thought about Solomon when he said:
A generation goes, and a generation comes,
but the earth remains forever.
Ecclesiastes 1.4
Well, the earth will not always remain forever of course. But it is true that generations do come and go. 9000 pictures tell the story of lives that come and go. All of our lives are like that. Each Sunday I look out at scores of college students who worship with us and I think, “I once was your age. One day you'll be my age.” That's the way life works.
But there are some things that are always the same regardless of generation. For example, each person is responsible for their choices. Ezekiel 18 teaches that I can't blame my parents (or anyone else for that matter) for the choices that I make. And neither can you. So much changes in our world: Technology. Innovation. Science. Medicine. Travel. Communication. They all change from generation to generation.
But there are some things that just never change.
I mean the need for Jesus never changes.
For there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.
Acts 4.12b
The way the Bible reads never changes. We don't have BibleTube 2.0. You can read on your phone or tablet or your paper Bible the exact same words that my parents read. And my grandparents. And my great grandparents You know my great grandmother would have known people who fought in the Civil War. Well, the Bible those men read on the battlefield is the same Bible that you can read today.
And the God that we talk to in prayer never changes. The God that Paul spoke to. Moses. Abraham. Adam and Eve. We pray to the same God.
And so, Solomon said one generation passes away. Another generation arises. But don't you love the fact that we'll all leave a legacy? For example, of Abel it was said though he is dead he still speaks (Hebrews 11.4). And so will we. Knowing this ought to make us get about the important things of life. And ready ourselves for the life to come. Beyond that it ought to remind us that there are family members coming after us who will walk in our steps. Let's make sure those steps are worth following.
Just a thought.
