Some things never change…

For I am the LORD, I change not; Malachi 3:6a

As a little child, I can remember going to school vividly. My younger sister would wait outside the door for the bus in cold or hot weather while I sat inside on the couch watching Gilligan’s Island re-runs on TBS. She would usually tap on the screen door, and it was time to make a run for it. The big yellow bus was there every day at the same time to take me to the same school to see the same teachers. Life was easy with a schedule of school, dinner with the family at 5, and the rest of the evening spent playing kick-ball, tag, hide-n-go-seek, or riding bicycles. It seemed that life never changed that much. Mom and Dad were always there. My teachers always cared and my grandparents were always waiting on the weekend to pick me and my sister up to share their love by spoiling us.

What has happened since those days? Just as the nights are beginning to get cooler and leaves are starting to turn various colors, our lives are constantly changing through the seasons. We grow older, hopefully wiser, and slow down to appreciate each passing day. I can still go back to my hometown and visit the school. Many of the same teachers still fill the hall; however, there are many that have already come and gone. The place that I thought was so secure and structured as a child has evolved and been replaced with unfamiliar faces. In light of all these changes, there must be some way to find comfort and stability as time swiftly passes us by.

While growing up, I learned the song, “Jesus loves me this I know for the Bible tells me so.” Therefore, I would like to direct your attention today to God’s eternal truths. In the Bible, I have found five men who over the course of 2,000 years have given an accurate picture of the throne of God and the One who sits on it. The first was Moses who saw the Lord in His glory on Mount Sinai as the people of Israel had just agreed to do all that God had commanded. God wanted a people that He could lavish His love on. Just like you and me, it didn’t take long for them to rebel as Moses’ stayed up in the mountain for 40 days and nights. Secondly, Isaiah wrote, “In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. (6:1)” When He saw the glory of God, he saw his sinfulness and was ready to serve God by proclaiming, “Here am I, send me.” Third, Ezekiel caught a glimpse of God’s throne saying, “And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it” (1:26). Daniel was also privileged as he explained, “I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire (7:9). Finally, John the Revelator wrote, “The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created” (4:10-11).

These are five men who explained the same thing over a two thousand year time frame. God is still on the throne and in control. What a glorious truth we have before us! Though everything continues to change day to day, we have One who never changes. Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever (Hebrews 13:8). Though fall is here, some things never change.