“The grass withers, the flower fades: but the Word of our God shall stand for ever” (Isaiah 40:8).

Josiah stood in the library with his grandfather Raymond. “You surely must love books, Grandpa,” Josiah said. “I’ve never seen as many books as you have in your library. I can see that some of the books are really old, Grandpa. Do you still read them?” Josiah continued. “Well, my dear grandson, to tell you the truth, it’s been quite some time since I’ve read some of them. They are very much out-of-date, I suspect,” Grandpa said as he chuckled. Actually, friends, as we think about it, many publications become slightly outdated soon after being published. Some of the statistics, research, predictions, and descriptions written by highly professional people simply become out-of-date. Thomas Watson, the chairman of IBM, once said, “I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.” He made this statement in 1943. Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp. once said, “There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home.” He made this statement in 1977. A Western Union internal memo in 1876 stated, “This telephone has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us.” We smile at all of these outdated and inaccurate statements. It is just a good reminder to us that everything around us becomes outdated, except for the Scriptures, the precious Word of God. His Word stands forever. It will never be outdated!

For today: Invest time reading the Scriptures and then intentionally obey the Scriptures. Your convictions will be out-of-step with the world but never outdated!