Permanent

There is nothing permanent except change.

What is permanent in your life?

I remember when I was a kid.  It was a big deal to lose my baby teeth in exchange for my permanent teeth.  I was told these new teeth would last forever.  I had my first root canal last year.  This tooth isn’t completely gone, but most of it has been replaced by other material.  One of the managers in my office is getting to new front teeth which will replace his “permanent” front teeth.  What happened to permanent?

When I was a kid, I was threatened by adults by the addition of something to my permanent record.  Nobody wants something on their permanent record.  When I was twenty, I was caught speeding.  I hired a lawyer, and the charges were reduced.  My permanent record was safe.

The other day, I used a permanent marker to write something down.  This should last forever, right?  Did you know, you can undo a permanent marker by writing over it again with another marker?  Look it up.  So much for the marker being permanent.

People get permanent tattoos.  They last forever.  Unless, you want to go through the painful process of removing them.  Then I guess tattoos aren’t so permanent after all.

Women get permanent to straighten or curl their hair.  You would think it would last forever, but it doesn’t.  They have to go back again to keep their hair straight or curly.  A permanent isn’t all that permanent.

Today, we make decisions.  We think they are permanent, but I’m not so sure.  When I was in college, I worked for a medical billing company.  One of our clients was in Schwenksville.  I used to tell people, “Who in the world would ever live in a town called Schwenksville?”  With this, I was making a permanent decision not to ever, ever live in Schwenksville.  Now, I live in Schwenksville.  I guess my decision wasn’t so permanent.

People say the only thing really permanent (or certain) is death and taxes.  This may seem true to most of us.  What if we could find permanence somewhere else?

There is part of us that longs for the permanent.  Sure, we make embrace change as necessary, but I think there is something in all of us that longs for some type of permanence in our lives.

The Bible tells us that God’s love never changes – it endures forever.  Psalm 136 repeatedly reminds readers “His love endures forever.”

God’s love for us is permanent!

In a world where change seems inevitable – where permanence seems to be a thing of the past, I know where to look to find something that will last forever.

What is something in your life that didn’t last as long as you expected it to last?