If I had nearly $88,000 I didn’t know what to do with, I’d probably think first of a fully-restored 1965 Mustang Fastback. Or a Ford Raptor pickup. Or a nine-month cruise (if Janet would go with me and I could see the grandkids regularly.)
Here’s what I wouldn’t buy: a Cheeto. Apparently, not everyone agrees.
A Flamin’ Hot Cheeto shaped like the Pokémon character Charizard has therefore been named the “Cheetozard” and has sold at auction for $87,840. It measures three inches in length and comes with its own custom Pokémon card. If you missed out on this “opportunity,” you might consider a Cheeto shaped like Arnold Schwarzenegger now being offered for $20,000, or a Cheeto Puff Pair shaped like the Loch Ness Monster on auction for a mere $1,000.
I’m reminded of the banana duct-taped to a wall that sold for $6.2 million at an auction last November.
But since I’ve never bought anything at an online auction in my life, I guess I’m just behind the times.
This story makes me feel even older: Monopoly has reinvented its board game to use apps rather than paper money. You start the game by downloading the Mobile Banking app, which handles all your transactions with money and properties.
You’ll also notice that Boardwalk and Park Place, the two most expensive properties, have disappeared. In their place are Rocket Launch Pad and Moon. I have no idea who would want to own either.
We cannot step into the same river twice, but . . .
The ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus claimed that we cannot step into the same river twice. This is true as a matter of physics. But he meant that change is the unchanging principle of the universe.
Today’s stories would illustrate his theme (though given his reputation for “supercilious haughtiness,” I doubt he would have seen either one). Whether this is true of the physical world or not, it is certainly untrue of the spiritual world in two very significant respects.
The first is that human nature does not change, which is why the Bible is as relevant today as when it was first inspired.
The prophet described us all: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick” (Jeremiah 17:9). It is because we are all fallen that “out of the heart come evil thoughts” (Matthew 15:19) still today. We face the same temptation to be our own god as our first ancestors (Genesis 3:5). We struggle with the same doubts and fears and feel the same hopes and aspirations as those who have come before us across the long march of history.
While our circumstances have obviously changed in nearly indescribable ways, our natural response to them has not. We still fear pandemics and wars; we still aspire for the best for our children and grandchildren.
As a result, it is still true that “the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). Consequently, we can know that Scripture is still “profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16–17).
This means that we need not “make” the Bible relevant because it already is. Our job is simply to explain the text’s intended meaning in the context of current culture, and its message shines through as powerfully as ever.
God assures us that his word “shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:11). This promise is still true because his word is just as relevant today as ever.
“That than which nothing greater can be conceived”
The other unchanging fact to consider is God’s word regarding himself: “I the Lᴏʀᴅ do not change” (Malachi 3:6). Scripture similarly testifies, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).
Just as human nature does not change, neither does divine nature.
How could it be otherwise? St. Anselm defined God as “that than which nothing greater can be conceived.” If something or someone other than God is greater than our God, our God is by definition not truly God. There can only be one “Supreme Being.”
Accordingly, if he ever changes, it must be to become less than he currently is. He is all-knowing, all-loving, all-present, and all-powerful. To change in any respect is to become less knowing, loving, present, or powerful, and thus to become less than God.
So we can know that God is who he has always been and always will be.
This is wonderful news whenever we need to claim his promises or trust his attributes. We can know that he loves us as much as when his Son died for us, because “God is love” (1 John 4:8). We can know that he is powerful enough to meet all our needs, because “with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26).
Whenever we face a problem, we can identify an attribute of God that meets it, then claim this fact as his grace gift to us. When we pray and act on the basis of his unchanging identity, we stand on the solid rock of his word and will. Such a house will withstand every storm of life (Matthew 7:24–25).
Will you be a “partisan for Christ”?
Our response, like God’s people of old, should be the same: “Diligently listen to the voice of the Lᴏʀᴅ your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes” (Exodus 15:26). We can know that his unchanging word is still relevant and his unchanging nature is still perfect.
Billy Graham defines a “Christian” as a “partisan for Christ” and notes, “Partisans are not neutral—they are committed.”
Will you be a true “Christian” today?
