Are You Walking In An Eclipse?

I usually post blogs on Monday mornings.   However, there were two things that happened last night and this morning that caused me to post this morning.  Romans 1:20 is one of my favorite verses in the Bible.  Right behind it is Psalms 19:1.  Most likely these verses are special to me because of my love for the sciences and mathematics.

For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse. Romans 1:20 (KJV)

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Psalm 19:1 (KJV)

From these two verses we find that creation is an expression of the very nature of God.  By studying His creation, we can know and understand His invisible attributes.  One of the occurrences that takes place every once in awhile is an eclipse.  This morning we were able to witness a lunar eclipse in some parts of the United States.  My daughter sent the family a video of today’s event from her home in Texas.

Not only was it a lunar eclipse but is was also preceded by a blood moon.  As a beautiful full moon moved into the shadow of the earth, it appeared to change color.  Right before it disappeared it became a brilliant reddish orange ball in the night sky.

As I followed coverage of this phenomenon, I was reminded of some lessons I learned many years ago from watching various eclipses take place.  A lunar eclipse is one where the earth comes in-between the sun and the moon.  When this occurs, the earth blocks the rays of the sun from reflecting off of the moon.  This creation moment always causes me to reflect on something that God’s Word says about our relationship to Him and this world.

In John 5 we read that God is Light.  God is like the sun.  He is the source of all true light.  Man is fallen and is in darkness but through regeneration he enters into a personal relationship with God.  When a Christian is rightly related to God, God’s light shines on man and is reflected onto a lost world.  When a lost world sees God’s light reflected off of a Christian, God receives the glory.  This is exactly what Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount.

Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. Matthew 5:14-16 (KJV)

They say a picture is worth a thousand words so let me try and illustrate my thoughts with a visual.

 

This picture illustrates how Christians should be related to God (Who is Light) as we live and work in this dark world. This is how we should be living our lives by abiding in Christ and allowing God’s light to shine through us to a lost world.

In the beginning of this post, I said that there were two things that led me to write it.  The second one also relates to what we just observed in today’s lunar eclipse.  Last night the President of the United States gave his first State of the Union Address since taking office.  I am not going to give political commentary on the speech but I do want to point out a theme that ran through the address.

This President, whether one likes him or not, has accomplished a lot of things.  One thing I am very grateful to him for doing is how he has boldly stood for the sanctity of all human life — including the life of the unborn.  He has not only spoken out publicly on this issue but he has also appointed strong, conservative, constitutionalist judges who will defend all human life.

The theme that I want to draw our attention to, however, is that of economic prosperity.  There is no question about it, many of his actions have caused the economy to rebound and grow.  I am not against keeping a little more of the money I earn so I can use it for kingdom business.  I also want to see others be blessed financially.  However, I am fearful that we can very easily start loving the things of this world more than the things of God.  As some has aptly said, we can focus on the blessing and forget the blesser!

Let me explain using the example of today’s lunar eclipse.  We find a very solemn warning in 1 John 2.

Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 1 John 2:15 (KJV)

This verse used to always concern me.  When I would read it, I thought it was telling me that if I loved this world, God stopped loving me.  However, that is not what it means.  It says if I love the world, the love of the father is no longer IN me.  It took a lunar eclipse many years ago to help me understand what that means.  Consider a second image.

When I love the things of this world more than God, I allow the world to come between me and God.  This is exactly what happens in a lunar eclipse — the earth (world) comes between the sun and the moon.  When the world comes between me and God, God’s light cannot get to me — His love is not IN me.  This means I have nothing to reflect through my efforts to a lost, dark world.

As Christians, we cannot let economic prosperity or any other worldly desires come between us and God, Who is light.  When this happens, we end up walking in the darkness of an eclipse.  Economic prosperity and/or the American Dream is not what we should seek after.  Jesus said that we are not to be like the lost and seek after material gain. Instead we should seek first the kingdom of God.  We are to seek His Lordship over our entire lives.  When we do, we will abide in His light and everything we do, will bring glory to Him.  I am always blessed when I know God better through lessons from Creation.  Have a blessed day!