Day Four

Genesis 1 cont’d:

He also made the stars.  God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness.  And God saw that it was good.  And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.

God didn’t just set the moon and sun into place. Wouldn’t that have been enough?  He now made stars – those things that cannot be counted – those twinkly objects that are marvelously mysterious – the beauty of the night.

And he says he set them in the vault to “govern” the day and the night.

According to NASA, “stars are responsible for the manufacture and distribution of heavy elements such as carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen, and their characteristics are intimately tied to the characteristics of the planetary systems that may coalesce about them.”

God is simply amazing, isn’t he?  He flings these brilliant objects into his night sky and they  have a purpose to keep into balance all that the earth and our solar system needs to breathe and respond to the Creator.

In fact, we find out later in scripture that he calls them each by name as he “marches” them into place in the sky.

How can we ever doubt God’s care over us?  I know that I do from time to time because my vision is so horizontal, and that kind of vision doesn’t see very far.

But when we look up and see the stars emerge out of the darkness to fill the sky, we can take solace and comfort in the very fact that they are there to govern, to respond to the Creator by keeping all of creation tied together in sync.

All of this, and it’s only day four…