One of my favorite actors passed away this week.  Robert Redford was probably one of the most likable superstars of all time.  You rarely heard a negative word spoken about him.  Yet, just like this verse states, people are like grass and will grow and prosper, but they will eventually die.  The question presented in this passage is not about how likable you may be, but where you place your faith.  Do you place your faith in God and in His word?

Isaiah had just prophesied that Israel will be conquered by Babylon in chapter 39 and all the king’s possessions, and his descendants would be taken to Babylon.  However, as soon as Isaiah presents this bleak future for Israel, he provides words of comfort.  He describes how involved God is with His people.  While He rules them with a mighty arm, He is also their shepherd and will gather His lambs in his arms.  Most importantly, He describes that the sins of the people will be paid for, and they would be pardoned for their sins. 

Voltaire was a French writer and philosopher who lived during the 18th century.  He was a deist that believed that God was the creator of the world, but that God was not directly involved in the world.  He was critical of Christianity and believed that eventually it would fade away and would be replaced with reason and logic.  This was the age of Enlightenment.  Some even attribute a quote from him that stated that the Bible would become a relic and disappear from society.  Ironically, years after his death, a Bible society purchased his property and printed the Bible from his former house.  The word of God will endure forever!  Are you placing your hope in people or in your own abilities?  It may work on a short-term basis, but eventually our hope can only be placed in God.

Read Isaiah 40