Contemplative Bible Reading

Psalms 49:11-12 (American Standard Version)

11 Their inward thought is, that their houses shall continue for ever,
And their dwelling-places to all generations;
They call their lands after their own names.
12 But man being in honor abideth not:
He is like the beasts that perish.

I love to build things (see, for example, this blog). I’d love to have a legacy. Something chiseled in stone that folks a few hundred years from now will see. Let’s name a nation after me. That will take a lot of money, so I had better start earning that fortune today…or something silly like that.

The writer of this Psalm was filled with the knowledge of God and the ability to see thousands of years into the past and the future.

Sorry, we abideth not. We pass like the little bird that flies through the woods for a couple of years and dies when its heart stops beating. It falls to the ground and turns to compost.

So why trouble? What’s the use? Love one another. Bless one another. Spread the grace of God to those in reach.

I live in a rich community. I mean it is a R I C H community. Still, I see persons everyday who hurt. They don’t need money from me, just a smile, a handshake, an acknowledgement that they too need the riches of Christ. Because one day soon our bodies, not our souls, will be like that of the little bird on the floor of the woods turning into compost.