Seven things that will never change
OPINION —
Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, is reportedly worth over 200 billion dollars. He credits his success to asking the right questions. Some business leaders ask “What will change over the next 10 years?” They make decisions based on what they perceive will change.
Bezos, on the other hand, said the better question is “What will not change during the next 10 years?” He decided two things will not change. One, customers will always want low prices. Two, customers will always want fast delivery. His business success suggests that Bezos is asking the right questions.
I decided to ask the Bezos question concerning my business, the proclamation of the good news about Jesus. In the spiritual realm, “What will not change over the next 10 years?” I came up with a long list but these were my top seven.
- God is love. That will never change. Until the time of Jesus not many people believed God was a loving God. People worshiped thousands of gods, and millions still do. But none of those gods resembled the God whom Jesus revealed when he said, “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16). The simple song, “Jesus Loves Me,” says it all, and its truth will remain unchanged until the end of time.
- Jesus saves those who repent of their sins and turn to him. That has been true for more than two thousand years, and it will remain true forever. One of the most solid truths of life is that Jesus saves. A thousand years from now, what the Apostle Paul said will still be true: – ”If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9).
- Jesus will never stop giving his disciples the strength to honor and serve him. Saint Paul believed God, our “glorious Father,” will give believers power “like the mighty strength he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead” (Ephesians 1:19-20).
Now that’s power! And it’s available now, and will still be available to Christ followers a hundred years from now. - Building life on sand will always be foolish. In his “sermon on the mount” Jesus warned us about the foolishness of building a house on sand. He said the wise man built his house on the rock. Houses built on sand collapse when the storms come. And what does it mean to build on rock? Jesus explained that you build on rock when you obey his teaching. He even said that those who love him will obey his teaching. So we shall be wise to “stay in the Word” and listen carefully to Jesus.
- You will never have peace with God until you turn to Jesus and ask him to rule your life. There is a certain peace found in the things of this world but it’s all temporary. Lasting peace is found only by turning to the one who said, “My peace I give you, not as the world gives.” Saint Augustine said it best: “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.” If you seek it from Jesus, you will find it, for he delights in giving it to his disciples.
- Heaven will always be the great gift of God to those who obey Jesus. This world is not our home. The human body wears out. The soul lives forever. When we breathe our last breath on earth, our family will bury the body but the soul lives on. Jesus said, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand” (John 10:27-28). John said, “The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever” (1 John 2:17). God gives us many wonderful gifts but always and forever, his great gift is eternal life in heaven where the sun will not shine but the glory of God will be all the light we need! (Revelation 21:23). The ultimate sadness will belong to those who refuse to turn to Jesus and spend eternity in hell, where there darkness, weeping and gnashing of teeth.
- You will always be blind until Jesus opens your eyes. Saul, who would later become Paul, was busy seeking to destroy the church after the resurrection of Jesus. Then he encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus. He was blind and helpless until his sight was restored as Ananias prayed for him. Jesus opened his eyes.
Centuries later Jesus opened the eyes of the hymn writer John Newton, whose testimony is found in his famous hymn, “Amazing Grace” — “I once was blind, but now I see.”
The singer Hank Williams “wandered alone, like a blind man,” until the day he finally shouted, “Praise the Lord, I saw the light!”
Jesus said unless you are born again you will never “see” the Kingdom of God. We stumble in darkness until we turn to Jesus and begin walking in his light.
Believing these seven truths that will never change will not make you wealthy, but they just might make you wiser than Jeff Bezos.