A Lesson in the Sky

Scripture encourages us to contemplate the world around us. "Consider the ant." "Consider the heavens, ... the moon and the stars." The natural world has much to teach us, so let's reflect on one of the wonders of the night sky and see what wisdom it can impart.

It begins as a chunk of ice and rock, left over from the creation of our solar system. It sleeps in darkness until something disturbs it, sending it tumbling toward the sun. As it gets closer, it begins to change, to wake up. It leaves a trail; it grows. The lump that was maybe a few miles across becomes one of the largest objects in the solar system, growing nearly as large as Jupiter. When that happens this "dirty snowball" begins to shine brighter than most of the stars in our sky. But the light is not its own; it only reflects light of the sun. The closer it gets to the sun, the brighter it shines.

We live in a world blanketed by darkness. The rulers, the authorities, the powers of this dark world want the people living in it to believe there is no hope, no other choice, no way out. Whenever there is some ray of hope, the dark tries to smother it. People are lost, blindly staggering through life. They know something is wrong, but they don't know what. They cannot see in the dark.

"You are the light of the world," our Master said. We were placed here to provide the light they need. We are their chance to see the truth. But we don't shine with our own light; we only reflect the glory of our Savior. So let us learn a lesson from the night sky:

The closer a comet comes to the sun, the brighter it shines. The closer we come to the Son, the brighter we'll shine.

When it seems like the darkness is growing, when it feels like the world has lost its mind, when it seems hope is forgotten, we feel the urge to "do something." We should. We need to shine his light. This is the task to which we have been called. We cannot fix the world, but we can shine. We cannot save the lost, but we can show them the truth. The darkness will always push back, but light destroys darkness.

The solution is not more action. It's more light. So when it seems things are getting darker, draw near to the Savior. Step one of "doing something" is to make sure you reflect as much of his light as you can.

When the world seems darkest, you need to shine your brightest. Don't let the darkness tempt you to pull away from him. Don't let this crazy world distract you from the beauty of your Savior. This world needs to see his light, so shine!


Image via Pixabay