The Deacon’s Diary

The Word of the Lord: Psalm 19 - The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they pour forth speech, night after night they display knowledge…their voice goes out into all the earth…in the heavens He has pitched a tent for the sun… The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul… The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart…”

One of the joys of December is winter skies that have magnificent yellow sunrises and red sunsets that occur each day. The angle of the sun is low on the horizon, causing its rays to bounce along the bottom of storm clouds. That combined with snow and ice crystals causes beautiful “light shows” for us to enjoy.

As mentioned in Psalm 19, the skies proclaim the mighty works of God’s own hands. All people, even those weak in their faith, have to admit that these things are greater than any person and that there is creation and beauty in nature. Christians gaze upon such beauty and are comforted seeing the works of God in the winter skies.

Also, as mentioned in this Psalm, we take joy in the beauty of the words of God found in our Bibles. Christ speaks to us in scripture, reminding us that He is always close by in the displays of nature and His Holy messages to us.

But December has one more communication to us from God…one that is more magnificent and meaningful to us. For it is at this time of year that we remember that God, as promised in those scriptures, sent His only Son to earth to become one of us in order to save us. As promised, we are saved by His loving Grace.

No man can suppress the knowledge that Jesus is now present in our lives, just as no man could stop the sunrises and sunsets we enjoy this time of year. Ready or not, a baby was born in a simple stable in Bethlehem. Nature recognized Him immediately from above, with a special star beaconing the wisest of men here on earth and the lowly shepherds out in the countryside. In a rough stable, born to loving parents, with the beasts of the fields gazing upon Jesus, we pause again and see Him too.

And the scriptures we love so much become alive in this person…our true God and true Man, Christ Jesus. The 330 Messianic passages of the Old Testament were answered by God. As stated in John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

As you look upon that vivid sunset this evening, remember that you are “thrice blessed” by God, who loved you so much He reached out to you with His Son. We have blessings from nature, from our scriptures and in Christ Himself!

Deacon Dave Taylor