Always True

TITLE: Always True
DATE: June 21, 2019
TEXT: Hebrews 13:8  - ESV8 -  Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! The story is not true, but it ought to be, for it deals with truth.

It begins in the court of King Solomon who decided to have some fun with his most trusted aide. The great King said, “Benaniah, for Benaniah Ben Yehoyada was the man’s name, Solomon said, Benaniah, there is a ring which I need you to bring to me.

Benaniah said, “If this ring can be found, I shall most certainly find it. But how will I know which is the right ring?”
​
 Solomon said, “This ring, while not magic, represents truth… a truth which will make the happy man sad and the sad man happy.”

Now, Solomon was the wisest man in the world and he knew that finding this ring was impossible since such a ring did not exist. But Benaniah did not know this and he began to search. For- almost a year he searched.  Sadly he found nothing and returned to Jerusalem to make his report,.

As h entered town he passed an old man sitting in a jewelry shop. With nothing to lose he asked, “Good sir, have you ever come across a ring which can rob a happy person of his happiness and bestow that singular gift upon the person who is sad?” Without a word, the old seller took a plain gold ring from his small selection of goods and scratched three Hebrew letters upon the ring. Gimel, zayin, yud which stands for “Gam zeh ya’avor” If your Hebrew is a bit rusty, that means… well, I’ll let the story tell you.

That night  Solomon greeted his adviser saying, ““Well, my friend, have you found that which I requested?” Solomon smiled. He smiled until Benaniah reached into the folds of his robe and produced a small cloth-wrapped package.

The package was unwrapped and the ring inspected. Solomon’s smile vanished. He understood the abbreviation: “Gam zeh ya’avor”, means, “This too shall pass. “It brings hope to those who are beset by troubles and to those who are overly-secure, there is the knowledge the pendulum swings.

This, too, shall pass. Look at the mountains and know that the day will come when they will be washed away. Look toward the heavens and know those great suns will someday exhaust their fuel and grow dark.

Perhaps you wonder if there are exceptions.  There are but you will need to look to the Lord to find them. Here are just a few of His exceptions:

1. His anger toward sin will never be quenched.
2. The wages of sin  will always be death.
3. There is no other Name other than that  of Jesus which can save.
4. The blood of Jesus cleanses from every sin.

Because God can be trusted and relied upon we are given hope. Our confidence in our forgiveness is a sure thing; our trust that heaven’s doors are already open to us is a reality. These things are real because our Savior’ love is the same yesterday, today and forever; His invitation remains the same yesterday, today and forever; our forgiveness is the same yesterday, today and forever.

THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, the world around us, along with everything in it, will someday pass away. As that is the case, may we put our trust in that which is beyond corruption: in Your love Your grace; Your Son. It is in His Name we pray Amen, 

The music which introduces and concludes our devotions was written by Guy Baumann. He along with three of his brothers perform on the album: The Baumann Brothers which may be ordered here: http://thebaumannbrothers.com/index.html