My Birthday –
Dear Friends,
As of today, I have traveled around the Sun, 56 times. That means I have travelled through space 32.7 billion miles! I feel like I should be in better shape! Of course, I am but a speck of animated matter on the planet Earth which is what is actually travelling around the Sun. The small star we call our Sun, even our solar system, is but a miniscule dot among the estimated 100 thousand million stars and systems that make up our Milky Way galaxy which is only one of the approximately 100 billion viewable galaxies in the seemingly limitless expanse of the universe.
Of course, the Bible tells us that there is a limit to the unfathomable size of the universe because our God is not only in but beyond the universe. He made it and set it in motion. “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?” (Psalm 8:3-4 NIV). What is man indeed? What am I? Why would God, who transcends all things, have any concern whatsoever with teeny, tiny, insignificant me? “O LORD, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from far. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.” (Psalm 139:1-3 NIV).
How great is our God! How greatly is HE to be praised! “For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome…” (Deuteronomy 10:17 NIV). Man, in our arrogance, presume to elevate ourselves to God’s level of mastery! We say we don’t need God! We can take care of ourselves! We are the lords of our own destiny! How can we be so vain? “Know that the LORD Himself is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture” (Psalm 100:3 NASB).
Near the turn of the first millennium A.D., Anselm of Canterbury developed the Ontological Argument for the existence of God. In it, He defined God as that “being than which none greater can be conceived.” Our imaginations are fertile fields. According to this definition, which is certainly in line with Biblical truth, whatever we can conceive as better, greater, higher, etc.… God is beyond that! That indescribable God knows me, cares for me and ultimately paid a price for me that I might join Him for eternity. Wow!
Today, I am 56 years old. I know myself pretty well. I KNOW that I do not deserve the notice of such a being as our God much less His care, concern or offer of salvation. However, His Word, the Bible tells me that I have it, none-the-less. It is my privilege and joy to serve such a God! I hope it is yours as well. If you are reading this letter and you cannot make that same statement, please get in touch with me soon and let me show you the way. This is important! I’ve made it around the Sun 56 times but I’m not promised a 57th! Life is fragile and can end in a moment. If your eternity is not settled, don’t waste another second!
Only by Grace!
Pastor Mike