Isaiah 40: 6b-8  And I said, “What shall I cry?” “All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field.  The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them. Surely the people are grass. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.” 

At the beginning of 2012, Hostess Brands filed for bankruptcy. They blamed the trend toward healthier diets on their financial woes. Then their workers went on strike, further complicating the issue. In November of that year, they announced they were shutting down, putting more than 18,000 employees out of work and announcing there would be no more Twinkies, those little cream filled shortcakes, that had been around since the 1930s. There was weeping and gnashing of teeth at that announcement. Not only that, but there would be no more Hostess CupCakes with the double loop white line of frosting on top. Those same folks also made Wonder Bread. It was sad to see them go. People were mourning the demise of the company.

Nothing on this earth lasts forever. There have been many powerful companies that seemed invincible but are now defunct.

• Airlines named Eastern, Pan American, and TWA Airlines.
• Automobile makers named Studebaker, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Packard, DeLorean and Hudson.
• Amoco and Standard Oil, Diners Club, Woolworth and Montgomery Ward. Even the mighty Sears and Roebuck.

Nothing lasts forever.  But wait … two private companies bought the old Hostess Brands Inc. and the rights to all their snacks. bringing it back as Hostess Brands LLC. By July of 2013 Twinkies and CupCakes and the other snacks were back on store shelves.  What everyone thought was dead and gone came back to life.

The resurrection of that company can remind us that there is something that lasts forever. I don’t mean Twinkies. Although they do have a lot of preservatives, they will eventually be no more.

What I have in mind is God and His promises. Jesus’ life, His suffering, His sacrifice, His death, His descent into hell, and His resurrection from the dead are God’s way of showing us He is with us — that He will not leave us or forsake us. The Father who sent the Redeemer into this world to fulfill His promise to save us has now guaranteed that all who believe on Jesus as their Savior need never be afraid or dismayed at what life might throw at them.

Years ago there was a powerful brokerage firm called E. F. Hutton. Their ads said, “When E.F. Hutton talks, people listen.” Well, E.F. Hutton had scandals and was absorbed by other companies, but the motto lived on.

Christians should follow a variation of that motto: When the Triune God speaks, we all ought to listen. If we do, we discover that because of Jesus’ act of redemption, hell has been replaced by heaven, and worldly worry has been set aside by wonder at God’s saving grace.

All of this leads me to say, I give thanks that in this changing world there is one thing I can count on: the love of God that comes to us in Jesus Christ.

THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, I give thanks that You have proven Yourself far more reliable than any human promise or man-made institution. May I, by the Holy Spirit’s power, be given a faith which trusts completely in You. I pray this in the Name of my Savior, who is with us always. Amen.