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1 LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory in the heavens. 2 Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger. 3 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, 4 what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? 5 You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor. 6 You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet: 7 all flocks and herds, and the animals of the wild, 8 the birds in the sky, and the fish in the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas. 9 LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! (Psalm 8 NIV)
Some years ago, I took a group of UM Men from my church to Marfa, Texas. It was our desire to build a new parsonage for the Rio Grande Conference church there. God had blessed our church and we wanted to be a blessing to others. Being in Marfa, and not having seen the famous Marfa Lights, I suggested to the men that we leave the motel and go see these lights. We drove to the park from where the lights can be seen and we were met by a very nice young lady who greeted us and said her husband had just bought a $10,000 telescope and he was president of a Dallas-based astronomy club and he would let us see the lights through his new telescope. It was quite the sight to see these unexplained, mysterious lights . But the real highlight happened when the man said he could show us some of the galaxies visible that night. We first saw the Milky Way, then Andromeda. As today's image shows, Andromeda is quite the sight. What the psalmist wrote in this psalm I thought about; God has set His glory in the heavens, and the heavens, the work of God's fingers, the moon and the stars, which God set in place, I wondered, just like the psalmist, who am I, that God is mindful of me, and that God cares for me? You and I have been crowned with glory and honor; we have been made rulers over the works of God's hands. This reminded me of what we said in some of the chuches I visited, "I love you and there's nothing you can do about it!" as a greeting shared by member to member. Thought I, there is something, actually a lot we can do; for God, for the church, for each other, starting with loving back, loving others, giving more, serving more, and being the true witnesses of God's presence.
God loves you. The psalmist realized that just from looking up at night, from time to time, we can see God's love in the heavens, written in God's style, saying "I love you!" As we compare the awesomeness of the universe, we are a part of that, just as awesome and just as important, and just as loved. Dear one, the theme from this week shows that even as we celebrate the Trinity, we also celebrate our creation. We are a very important part of God's heart and we should be aware of that. And we shouldn't take it for granted. We are loved, and we should be those who love all people.
PRAYER: We stand in awe, dear God, of Your love for us. I receive it and desire to prass it on to others; in Christ Jesus I pray, amen.
Have a great and blesed day in the Lord! YOUR CALL TO ACTION: Love all you meet today in a Godly way.
Receive my love and blessings of joy,
Pastor Eradio Valverde, Jr.
