All have heard and parroted the phrase: “The More Things Change The More They Remain The Same.” For those who research the words of others, this statement is attributable to Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr (1908 – 1990). The guess at what it means includes: “…it is something similar to ‘nothing new under the sun’, except that it’s more paradoxical. A simple interpretation is that it means the one thing that we can be sure of, the only thing that is consistent in life, is that nothing is permanent.”
In a Day By Day Devotional, Charles R. Swindoll wrote: “Better than any other word I can think of, ‘change’ describes our world. Vast, sweeping changes, especially in the last 150 years…Consider two of the more pronounced changes in our world. (1) Population - It was not until 1850 that the number of people on this globe reached one billion. By 1930…the number had doubled. Only thirty years later—1960—it was up to three billion. (2) Speed - Until the early 1800s the fastest any human being could travel was about 20 miles per hour on the back of a galloping horse. By 1880 the ‘streamline’ passenger train whipped along at 100 miles per hour, an unheard of and fearsome velocity. Today - manned space rockets jump the speed to 16,000 miles per hour…There are also the technological advancements in the last century; the enormous changes made in military armament and defense; advanced agricultural processes; other modes of transportation; breakthroughs in medicine; etc.”
Track and Field has also witnessed significant “change” in the last half-century. The year 1954 was notable in the Track World when the impossible became possible – a man running a mile in less than 4 minutes! It had never been done before. Investor's Business Daily carried this story – “For Roger Bannister, the gauntlet was thrown down: Someone told him his goal was ‘impossible.’ Until 1954, the fastest any human ran a mile was 4 minutes 1.3 seconds. That record stood eight years. Many thought it would stand forever. Bannister decided it wouldn't… On May 6, 1954, he became the first man to break the four-minute mile barrier with a time of 3:59.4. It was a milestone so important that Sports Illustrated rated it, along with the climbing of Mount Everest, as the most significant athletic feat of the 20th century.” It’s a strange truism – “records were made to be broken.” Shortly after Roger Bannister’s achievement, Herb Elliot – an Australian middle-distance runner who was world-record holder in the 1,500-metre race (1958–67) and the mile race would achieve that same goal and set a new record. It was reported: “He ran his first sub-four-minute mile in 1958; and in that year he set a new world record for the mile of 3 min 54.5 sec and for the 1,500-metre race of 3 min 36 sec. Elliott ran the mile in less than 4 minutes seventeen times.” Many have probably forgotten the feat of “…Ukrainian-born Sergei Bubka who beat all the competition at the 1983 World Championships with an 18-foot pole vault when he was only nineteen. After that he added one inch after another, until finally he broke the magic barrier by clearing 20 feet….”
In the spiritual realm, an anchor point for one’s belief system is this basic truth stated in Malachi 3:6, “I the Lord do not change…” The Theological term is: God Is Immutable! From an article in The Reformed Witness: “That God is immutable does not only mean that God does not change, it most emphatically means that He cannot change…We change physically, mentally, and spiritually. Styles change. Governments and their leaders change. Nations come and go. Creation underwent significant changes at the time of the fall and of the flood, and continues to undergo certain changes. Over against all this stands God!” This truth has further significance in terms of personal identity and relationship to the Lord. Because God does not change, there is great assurance in the words of Isaiah 54:5 and 10, “For your Maker - the Lord Almighty is His name - the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; He is called the God of all the earth…Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet My unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor My covenant of peace be removed, says the Lord, Who has compassion on you.” In this world of flux, you have an Anchor; a firm foundation; a God Who is not affected by circumstances or events. He is the Solid Rock! He is unchangeable! Be anchored to Him! Consider these things with me!
In a Day By Day Devotional, Charles R. Swindoll wrote: “Better than any other word I can think of, ‘change’ describes our world. Vast, sweeping changes, especially in the last 150 years…Consider two of the more pronounced changes in our world. (1) Population - It was not until 1850 that the number of people on this globe reached one billion. By 1930…the number had doubled. Only thirty years later—1960—it was up to three billion. (2) Speed - Until the early 1800s the fastest any human being could travel was about 20 miles per hour on the back of a galloping horse. By 1880 the ‘streamline’ passenger train whipped along at 100 miles per hour, an unheard of and fearsome velocity. Today - manned space rockets jump the speed to 16,000 miles per hour…There are also the technological advancements in the last century; the enormous changes made in military armament and defense; advanced agricultural processes; other modes of transportation; breakthroughs in medicine; etc.”
Track and Field has also witnessed significant “change” in the last half-century. The year 1954 was notable in the Track World when the impossible became possible – a man running a mile in less than 4 minutes! It had never been done before. Investor's Business Daily carried this story – “For Roger Bannister, the gauntlet was thrown down: Someone told him his goal was ‘impossible.’ Until 1954, the fastest any human ran a mile was 4 minutes 1.3 seconds. That record stood eight years. Many thought it would stand forever. Bannister decided it wouldn't… On May 6, 1954, he became the first man to break the four-minute mile barrier with a time of 3:59.4. It was a milestone so important that Sports Illustrated rated it, along with the climbing of Mount Everest, as the most significant athletic feat of the 20th century.” It’s a strange truism – “records were made to be broken.” Shortly after Roger Bannister’s achievement, Herb Elliot – an Australian middle-distance runner who was world-record holder in the 1,500-metre race (1958–67) and the mile race would achieve that same goal and set a new record. It was reported: “He ran his first sub-four-minute mile in 1958; and in that year he set a new world record for the mile of 3 min 54.5 sec and for the 1,500-metre race of 3 min 36 sec. Elliott ran the mile in less than 4 minutes seventeen times.” Many have probably forgotten the feat of “…Ukrainian-born Sergei Bubka who beat all the competition at the 1983 World Championships with an 18-foot pole vault when he was only nineteen. After that he added one inch after another, until finally he broke the magic barrier by clearing 20 feet….”
In the spiritual realm, an anchor point for one’s belief system is this basic truth stated in Malachi 3:6, “I the Lord do not change…” The Theological term is: God Is Immutable! From an article in The Reformed Witness: “That God is immutable does not only mean that God does not change, it most emphatically means that He cannot change…We change physically, mentally, and spiritually. Styles change. Governments and their leaders change. Nations come and go. Creation underwent significant changes at the time of the fall and of the flood, and continues to undergo certain changes. Over against all this stands God!” This truth has further significance in terms of personal identity and relationship to the Lord. Because God does not change, there is great assurance in the words of Isaiah 54:5 and 10, “For your Maker - the Lord Almighty is His name - the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; He is called the God of all the earth…Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet My unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor My covenant of peace be removed, says the Lord, Who has compassion on you.” In this world of flux, you have an Anchor; a firm foundation; a God Who is not affected by circumstances or events. He is the Solid Rock! He is unchangeable! Be anchored to Him! Consider these things with me!
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