Change, Anyone?

Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and today and forever.

Hebrews 13:8

I subscribe to a magazine that is written especially for women who are age forty and over.  I used to really enjoy it, but lately, I have grown tired of all the articles and pictures focusing on how to change yourself.   The world today is all about The Big Makeover!  Is there something about yourself that you don’t like?  Just change it!  This last issue was a veritable encyclopedia of chemicals, lasers and fillers that I could use to change what I look like.  Forehead wrinkles?  Get Botox.  Those deep creases from nose to mouth?  Any number of fillers will “fill the bill.”  Lasers and chemicals will give you the skin of a newborn baby.  If things have really gone south, perhaps a face lift, or brow lift.  Come to think of it, there isn’t much on the human body that they can’t lift these days.

Don’t like your boss?  Change your job.  Don’t like your clothing?  Bring a stylist in and remake yourself.  Don’t like your wheels?  Trade them in on an automobile that befits your new look.  Don’t like your name?  You can change that, too – with a few dollars and a legal paper.  It is not easy to grow older – believe me, I know.  If you are a young person still striving to make it on your own, it is not easy to compete in a society that judges you solely on externalities.  The one thing that doesn’t seem to matter anymore is being yourself, and being true to yourself.

It is wonderful to know that God is not “into” the outside of my physical person, but values what is inside – the heart, the character.  It is an even greater blessing to have the assurance that, regardless of any change in my life, God never changes.  He is the same yesterday, today, tomorrow, and forever.  His love, His grace, His mercy, and His saving power will never change.  Thanks be to God!

Let nothing disturb thee; let nothing dismay thee;

All things pass; God never changes.

~St. Teresa of Avila