The Temporary and The Eternal

 DEVOTION

THE 2^ND LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS

THE TEMPORARY AND THE ETERNAL

 2 Cor 4:16-18

16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

NIV

Everything Paul has been saying comes to this point, this statement. There is no question this body of ours is wasting away. It is getting older by the moment and is getting all the aches and pains that accompany age. It no longer looks young. The years have taken a toll on it. Wasting away fits the description well. Although through the marvels of medicine our eyes have not been dimmed, although some people even medicine cannot help them with sight. Age has weakened our muscles somewhat. On and on we can enumerate the problems with our outward self, but there is this inward self and is the one who in the grand scheme of things is who we are. Each day we are renewed. Every morning is a new day, and we are in the process of being transformed into the likeness of Jesus. This should mean that we should see some change within us, some transformation, even if it is a very small amount. The Greek word translated as renewed is a form of the word that means to be renovated. This is why we see this renewing as transforming because just as if we were in a constant state of renovating our home, making changes, updating it on a day-by-day basis, this is how our inner self is being renovated, renewed, transformed. Updated from what it once was to what it is today and tomorrow it will be renovated some more, and each day after that. So then, no matter what is going on with our outward man, our inward man is better than it has ever been and that outweighs all the afflictions that affect the outward self. Therefore, we do not pay attention to what we see in the mirror, for that is the seen and temporary. But we fix our eyes in our inward self, the unseen, and what is eternal. This is the same as the world we live in that is seen and temporary, but we fix our eyes on Jesus who at this moment is unseen and eternal, except, of course, seen in us as we reflect Him to the world. Nevertheless, it is all about the seen and the unseen, the temporary and the eternal.