Well, it’s another Sunday morning. “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?” Psalm 8:3-4 (ESV)
Growing up in a small town rural area as a child might not be for some people, but for me it was the best. I remember the warm summer nights of chasing fireflies and putting them into a jar till the jar flickered and glowed with the light of these little bugs. I remember how the warm night air made me feel and how the grass on my bare feet always felt like soft warm gloves around them as I ran and chased the twinkle of the bugs.
I remember looking up in amazement at the glorious beauty and the vastness of the exquisite sky at night, so clear and perfect in all ways. There wasn’t any light pollution from all the town lights, just the beauty of everything God had put there for us to see and enjoy. Psalm 147:4 (ESV) says this, He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names.
There were times that I would lay in the warm grass and just look up at all that beauty above me. I remember always wondering just how many stars there were and counting them until I would lose count or lose interest–one or the other. I remember wondering if there were other people out there on one of those rocks floating through space and thinking how cool it might be to talk to them. Have you had some of those summer nights before? Have you chased fireflies or stared at the stars in amazement? Have you set in adoration at the wonders God creates?
God painted a beautiful night sky for us to look at and enjoy. If you live in the cities you might need to drive a while to reach the rural areas where there is less light pollution and you can really see what God created. It’s what all of us that grew up in the sticks get to see when we just walked out on the porch at night. It always leaves me in awe of the greatness of our LORD every time I look to the heavens he created. Isaiah 40:26 (ESV) says this about the beauty God made, “Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name, by the greatness of his might, and because he is strong in power not one is missing.
God can call each one by name, that astounds me. When I go to a family reunion and can’t remember a lot of my cousins names but God can name off every star in the sky. He can light the night with the touch of His finger or a wave of His hand.
God made everything perfect for us, all of us, not just me or a few good old Church folks. Not just the rural area people or the city people. He didn’t exclude anyone for their skin tone or their gender or anything that you can think
of. He didn’t say because you have brown hair or no hair you are excluded. God included everyone in his perfection and it is ours to mess up. Like the good humans that we are with our sinful ways, we have done that in record time. Here is the good thing though, through Gods grace we are forgiven of our sins so we can get back to the perfect way God set out for us. We read in Ephesians 2:8-9 (ESV) this about God’s grace, For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Take some time and step out on a clear night and enjoy what our great Lord and Savior has placed above us, be in awe of the great vastness and beauty. Know that the same God that did this also forgives our sins, all of our sins. This was done with the blood of Christ Jesus on the cross. All we are asked in return is to believe that Jesus lived and died and rose again and to love as he loves us. That doesn’t seem too hard, does it? I would ask you to share the good word of our great Lord this week and to share the love given to us. I am always happy to be able to start that off, we serve and great and compassionate LORD, His grace and mercy are forever. God truly loves each and every one of you and so do I.
