The earth will wear out like a garment and its inhabitants die like flies. But my salvation will last forever.
Isaiah 51:6
Like Flies
Daily Devotion – November 26 ,2024
Devotion based on Isaiah 51:6
See series: Devotions
Care for a few factoids about common flies? Here goes…
#1. A common housefly can lay 500 eggs every 3–4 days.
#2. Flies taste with their feet.
#3. Flies do not chew. Instead, they excrete an enzyme that liquefies their food so they can drink it.
#4. Flies are vital for breaking down carcasses and turning them into fertilizer for our soil.
#5. Forensic investigators often depend on the predictable work of flies to determine the time of death at crime scenes.
#6. Thank the fly for your chocolate, for it is flies that pollinate the cocoa tree.
And a 7th and final factoid about flies? The average lifespan of a common fly is twenty-eight days.
Twenty-eight days. That’s less than a month. If one were looking for a creature that symbolizes the shortness of life in this fallen world, it would be hard to find one better than the common fly.
It’s no accident, therefore, that the Lord, through the prophet Isaiah, used the lifespan of flies to emphasize that our time on this earth is short. Everything that’s part of this world—everything we buy, drive, wear, collect, and pursue for amusement—breaks, wears out, and dies, including you and me.
Thankfully, Jesus entered this broken, temporary, sin-filled world and confronted the very thing that makes you and me pass away like flies. He confronted our sin. As our substitute, Jesus fulfilled the standards of sinlessness that a holy, eternal God demands. On our behalf, he endured the horror of eternal death on the cross to wash away our every sinful stain. Then, to assure us that eternal life is ours through faith in him, he raised himself back to life.
The result? The next time a common fly lands on your sleeve, remember all the things that are so temporary in this life. But Jesus is not. His promises are not. And now, in him, you and I are not either.
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, you are eternal. This sinful world is not. Move me to remain in you. Amen.
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