I stepped outside, the back porch cold under my bare feet. I didn't care; I was out there on a mission. Leaping over the single solitary step that separated the porch from the side walk, I rushed to the edge of the sidewalk. I leaned forward the slightest bit and looked up into the face of the moon. It was breathtaking. So bright and beautiful the moon spread a blue light over my yard. I smiled at the dark spots that creates the look of the man on the moon. (That has to be one of my most favorite parts about the moon.) Suddenly something I had known all my life made me realize something new.
Let's take a look at the sun for a minute. (Just trust me, I'm getting somewhere.) The sun is a gigantic mass of fire. It's big and powerful. The sun shines its light for all to see! It's pretty amazing. Without it how would we go about our day to day life?
Now for the moon. To us it seems big, but compared to the sun (which is roughly 400 times the moons size) it's pretty small. We look at it shining against the dark night sky and call it beautiful. In reality it's not. It has scars and craters where asteroids have marred its surface . The moon is dirty and ugly. Its purpose? It reflects the radiant, beautiful light of the sun.
Moving away from astronomy, let's take a look at God. He is big and beautiful. He is all-powerful. He is a bright and shining light for all to see! He's pretty amazing.
What about us? We are like the moon. We are ugly,dirty creatures. We are covered and filled with sin. God made us to reflect His beauty, but we reject our calling. Something that may surprise you is that this also goes for those of us who are saved. When you are saved you don't automatically reflect Gods light. That comes from living a life sold out for Christ. It comes from letting God live in us and through us. We ,like the moon, poses no beauty of our own. Even saved people. So many people accept God into their heart and leave it at that. You look at their life and there is nothing different. God has called all of us to live our life showcasing who He is. We are supposed to reflect His love to the world. But instead we choose to live for ourselves, cushioning our guilt with the fact that "Well, I am saved. That should count for something." Yet we could poses the beauty of God, a beauty that is never fading. We could reflect Gods light in this dark world just as the moon reflects the suns light into the dark night.
The smiling man on the moon reminds me of this ever so often when he chooses to show his face. I smile back sharing the beautiful secret that was shown to me that cold autumn night.
