I took the dogs out for a walk rather late last night and
was surprised to see how many cars were parked up on Selsley Common when I got
there. Normally, at that time of day, the Common is empty except for cows. As I
began walking up towards the ridge of the hill I suddenly remembered why all
those people were there. It was the longest day of the year, Midsummer solstice,
and they had come to see the sun setting. When I got closer to the edge I could
see a lot of people there all standing and starring. Admittedly, the view was
wonderful, the sun just sinking below the skyline and the sky turning brilliant
shades of orange and red, truly a wonderful site.
I instantly thought what a wonderful God we have to provide
such a spectacle and thanked Him for allowing me to see it, made even more
special because I had not been expecting it. However, it did tinge me with
sadness when I thought about the other people watching who had come with this
one sole purpose in mind who, at best, had just come to see a pretty picture
but, at worse, had seemingly gone back to some primitive time when human kind
worshiped the sun. They were watching in awe this big ball of fire that, yes,
provides us with heat, light, allows plants to grow and stops us spinning off
into outer space but they were forgetting who put it there in the first place.
Isn’t it amazing that God ‘flung’ the stars and planets, sun
and moon into space and provided the solar system in which we live. We all
refer to the sun setting or rising when, in actual fact, the sun stays exactly
where it is while the earth revolves around it. How can it stay put and not
fall? I like to think that God is holding the universe in His hand, just the
way He does us, and it gives me a feeling of security and protection – if God
doesn’t let the largest thing in the sky fall, think how much more He will hold
me up.
I have been reminded of that verse in Romans 1 ‘for they exchanged the truth of God for a
lie and worshipped and served the creature rather than the creator’. We
must always remember that the One who created the world, nature around us and
even mankind itself is far greater, more powerful and more magnificent that all
these things themselves and He is the One who should receive all the praise and
glory and not the objects He has formed.
