Like Grass and Like a Dream

All flesh is grass, And all its loveliness is like the flower of the field; The grass withers, the flower fades, Because the breath of the Lord blows upon it; Surely the people are grass.

Isaiah 40:6,7

Last night, I dreamt that I went back to our old apartment in Sri Kinabalu. It was now occupied by my cousins Yet and Pin and an unidentified baby. I walked into every room and saw the changes: new furniture, decor, less clutter. We had lived there for more than 10 years, but there was no trace of us having been there before. It evoked memories of our lives there with the boys growing from babies to preteens, when we moved to our present apartment. Here today, gone tomorrow; even the place remembers us no more: "As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more." Psalm 103:15,16

How then should we live while we are here? How do we make a difference, an impact to other lives, our environment? Do we leave a place better than when we first found it, or worse? Do we leave a legacy of good or are we just passing by, leaving nothing behind? Who notes and records our lives and deeds, and remembers us? We all seek to be remembered somehow; we want to leave an impression, a legacy, big or small. We want to be immortal. But we are flesh, grass and flowers of the field, transitory, passing by, ephemeral; the wind blows and tempus fugit. Oh Lord God who is the Eternal and Unchanging One, the Alpha and the Omega, the Sovereign Judge of all the earth, here I am, flesh and grass: desiring to live well for You, before You, to be in Your good book of records, to be known and remembered by You, to please You and be Your joy. I cannot do anything apart from You, but thanks be to God, You are the Vine and the Source of my life. So help me to stay, abide in You, in Your word, and live with and in You forever more. "The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever."

Isaiah 40:8