With the warmer temperatures come bug and insects, including houseflies. I have a device that looks like it could be a large, yellow water pistol, as child’s toy. However, it is actually a pump action shotgun of sorts that shoots a small puff of table salt. It is very accurate and effective at killing flies five to six feet away from you and leaves just a few grains of salt on the floor. After using it to dispatch a few flies that had invaded our home, I was reminded of this passage:

…the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment and its inhabitants die like flies. Isaiah 51:6

I also remembered learning that the life span of a housefly is only 15-30 days, which made me think of another passage:

“Man born of woman is of few days and full of trouble. Job 14:1

I think about the aches and pains in my knees, shoulders, hands, and all over. I know my body is feeling the effect of sin and is wearing out. I think about the problems facing our nation and the world and wonder what will be next. I realize, like Job did, that my time here on earth is brief and filled with pain and trouble. Those words by themselves might be depressing. But that verse from Isaiah says more than I shared with you above:

Lift up your eyes to the heavens, look at the earth beneath; the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment and its inhabitants die like flies. But my salvation will last forever, my righteousness will never fail. Isaiah 51:6

God promised salvation to His people long before Jesus was born. They were saved by believing God’s promise. You and I are saved the same way. We believe God’s promise. The difference is we know that it has already been fulfilled by what Jesus did when He came down here as one of us. He lived without sin. He died to pay for my sin. He rose to give me His victory over death. That will last forever and never fail. That gives me new hope and the attitude Paul wrote about.

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 2 Corinthians 4:16

I’ll share a bit more few more thoughts on this tomorrow.