“The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass.” (Isaiah 40:7)

This passage compares people to fleeting flowers. Both have a finite earthly existence. Each generation of flowers, for example, shrivels and falls from the plant, its glory fading and then vanishing. Likewise, each generation of man—indeed, each individual person—shrivels and fades in a single lifetime. The psalmist said it this way: “My days are like a shadow that declineth; and I am withered like grass” (Psalm 102:11).

Science confirms this. Biologists track a relentless accumulation of mutations, or DNA differences, during a person’s lifetime. These contribute to the typical symptoms of aging and many cancers. But biologists have also tracked mutations that accumulate across generations. They show that mankind as a whole will also wither.

Perhaps Peter had this in mind when he wrote, “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” (1 Peter 1:24). We each and all need a Savior!

The process of aging reminds us of life’s brevity. What will happen afterward? The gospel is the only message that offers a real cure for the terminal illness toward which our individual aging and collective withering point. To those who trust Christ, it promises everlasting life in bodies that never fade.

So, how should you “prepare to meet [your] God” (Amos 4:12)? “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord” (Acts 3:19). BDT