The Eternal and the Transient

By Patricia Newman

While we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:18

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever. Isaiah 40:8

The world and its desires pass away, but the man 
 who does the will of God lives forever. 1 John 2:17

The Bible, the eternal word of the eternal God, has much to speak to us about the eternal and the transient. Again and again, Scripture exhorts us not to focus on the transient, passing, "chaffy" things of this world but to focus on those things that shall endure beyond this life; the abiding things that shall carry weight in eternity.  John Wesley (1703-1791) said this: "I value all things only by the price they shall gain in eternity". How about you?
How are you doing in this area, beloved? What is your eternal to transient quotient? Are you doing the will of God? Do a reality check. Search the Scriptures. Be Berean.
Consider this gem of a reminder from JC Philpot (1802-1869) and may the Lord grant us the grace, by the indispensable power of the Holy Spirit, to order our lives rightly in the light of eternity for the glory of Christ:


There is a reality in true religion, and indeed, rightly viewed, a reality in nothing else. For every other thing passes away like a dream of the night, and comes to an end like a tale that is told. Now you cannot say of a thing that passes away and comes to an end—that it is real. It may have the appearance of reality—when in fact it is but a shadow. 

Money, jewels, pictures, books, furniture, securities, are transitory. Money may be spent, jewels be lost, books be burnt, furniture decay, pictures vanish by time and age, securities be stolen. 

Nothing is real but that which has an abiding substance. 

Health decays, strength diminishes, beauty flees the cheek, sight and hearing grow dim, 
the mind itself gets feeble, riches make to themselves wings and flee away, children die, 
friends depart, old age creeps on, and life itself comes to a close. 

These fugitive, transitory things are then mere shadows.
There is no substance, no enduring substance in them. They 
are for time, and are useful for a time. Like our daily food 
and clothing, house and home—they support and solace us
in our journey through life. But there they stop—when life 
ends they end with it. 

But real religion—and by this I understand the work of God 
upon the soul—abides in death and after death, goes with 
us through the dark valley, and lands us safe in a blessed 
eternity. It is, therefore, the only thing in this world of 
which we can say that it is real.

The world and its desires pass away, but the man 
 who does the will of God lives forever. 1 John 2:17