The Way It Is

[1 Pet. 1:24] For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass.
The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:
We are begotten only to die and return to the Father. There is no permanent, enduring life produced by that.
For all flesh is as grass that is, all human beings, all men. It was not unnatural, then, to dwell upon the feeble, frail, decaying nature of man, in contrast with G-d; and the apostle, therefore, says that "all flesh, every human being, is like grass. There is no stability in anything that man does or produces, lie himself resembles grass that soon fades and withers; but G-d and His word endure for ever the same. The comparison of a human being with grass, or with flowers, is very beautiful, and is quite common in the Scriptures. The comparison turns on the fact that the grass or the flower, however green or beautiful it may be, soon loses its freshness; is withered; is cut down, and dies.
Thus in Psalms 103:15, 16: "As for man, his days are as grass; As a flower of the field, so he flourishes, For the wind passes over it and it is gone, And the place thereof shall know it no more."
Isaiah 40:6-8 "The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, And all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field. The grass withers, The flower fades. When the wind of Jehovah blows upon it: Surely the people is grass, The grass withers, The flower fades, But the word of our G-d shall stand for ever."
Psalms 90:6 “In the morning it flourishes and sprouts anew; Toward evening it fades and withers away.”
This is the state of man: to-day he puts forth the tender leaves of hope, to-morrow blossoms, and bears his blushing honors thick upon him. The third day comes a frost, a killing frost. And when he thinks, good easy man, full surely His greatness is a ripening--nips his root, and then he falls.
And all the glory of man that man prides himself on his wealth, rank, talents, beauty, learning, splendor of equipage or apparel
Our glory is like the flower of the field. Our beauty fades, and our strength disappears, as easily as the beauty and rigor of the flower that grows up in the morning, and that in the evening is cut down. The rose that blossoms on the cheek of youth may wither as soon as any other rose; the brightness of the eye may become dim, as readily as the beauty of field covered with flowers; the darkness of death may come over the brow of manliness and intelligence, as readily as night settles down on the landscape; and our robes of adorning may be laid aside, as soon as beauty fades in a meadow full of flowers before the cut down of the mower. There is not an object of natural beauty on which we pride ourselves that will not decay; and soon all our pride and pomp will be laid low in the tomb. It is sad to look on a beautiful lily, a rose, a magnolia, and to think how soon all that beauty will disappear. It is sadder to look on a rosy cheek, a bright eye, a lovely form, an expressive brow, an open, serene, intelligent countenance, and to think how soon all that beauty and brilliancy will fade away. But amidst these changes which beauty undergoes, and the desolations which disease and death spread over the world, it is cheering to think that all is not so, There is that which does not change, which, never loses its beauty. "The word of the L-rd" abides, His cheering promises, His assurances that there is brighter and better world, remain amidst all these changes the same. The traits which are drawn on the character by the belief of Messiah, more lovely by far than the most delicate coloring of the lily, remain for ever. There they abide, augmenting in loveliness, when the rose fades from the cheek; when the brilliancy departs from the eye; when the body molders away in the grave. The beauty of belief is the only permanent beauty in the earth; and he that has that need not regret that that which in this mortal frame charms the eye shall fade away like the flower of the field.
Let us fade away in gratitude!