At 7:22 a.m., April 15, 1865, the gaunt body stretched on the bed in the room in the house on 10th street ceased to breath. Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton, turned to the window and pulled down the shade to shut out the bright sunlight. Looking back down at the silent form he said: “Now he belongs to the ages.” That is the shortest biography of Abraham Lincoln.
Actually, there is only one who belongs to the ages, and that is the one to whom the ages belong:
“Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).
Change is stamped on everything earthly.
There is nothing quite like a high school class reunion to reinforce the universal maxim: everything changes. When I graduated from High School in 1975, we did not have computers, cell phones, iPhones, iPods, iPads, internet, email, text messaging, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Nintendo, Sega, Xbox, Wii, or anything else much. We had no clue what a gigabyte was, nor had we ever heard of a fiber-optic cable capable of handling 5 billion phone calls per second. We did have ball point pens, though. Every day, we walked to and from school . . . uphill . . . in the snow . . . but I digress.
The world map has changed in the past thirty years. On December 25, 1991, the Soviet flag, the Hammer and Sickle, was lowered from the Kremlin, and the Soviet Union was no more.
Cities change. Where once I walked the hallowed halls of my high school in Rome, GA, now people park their cars to shop at Walmart.
Knowledge changes. In 1900, an engineer degree was worth 35 years before knowledge became obsolete. In 1960 that number was down to ten years. Today it is less than three.
The top 10 jobs in 2010 did not exist in 2004. The top eight jobs today did not exist in 2010: Digital Marketing Specialist; Social Media manager; Chief listening officer; Blogger; SEO Specialist; App Designer; App Developer; Cloud Services Specialist.
How many years did it take radio to reach a market audience of 50 million? 38 years. TV? 13 years. The internet? 4 years. Facebook? 2 years.
The pace of change has never been this fast, yet it will never be this slow again.
You’ve changed. Or should I say, you are changing. Your body cell structure totally changes every seven years. By the time you reach age 70, you’ve been ten different people!
Change is the salt and poison of life. It prevents monotony, but paralyses effort. There is one certainty in life—uncertainty.
More than ever, we need the quiet reassurance of Hebrews 13:8. In the midst of new normal, compliments of Coronavirus and all its lifestyle changes and uncertainties, there is one thing certain: “Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever.”
In a changing world, Jesus never changes.
Jesus is the Savior for all my yesterdays. He whispers: “Your sins will I remember no more.”
Jesus is the Savior for all my todays. In the midst of my fears, disappointments, loneliness, and sorrows, he whispers: “Come unto me and I will give you rest.” During my storms, he still sails with me in the boat; when hungry, he feeds me; when lost, he guides me; and when discouraged, he encourages me. I can never be alone, forsaken, forgotten, because he said: “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Jesus is the Savior for all my tomorrows. He says: “I am with you always, even to the end of the ages,” and “If I go to prepare a place for you, I will surely come again . . . that where I am, there you may be also.”
My soul marches on without fear or faltering, for the nail-pierced hand once riveted to a cross holds the scepter of the universe. All is well!
Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever.