The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day. (Proverbs 4:18)

Fixed in Scripture is the idea that Wisdom is so desirable, we should embrace it at all costs.  In fact, chapters 1-9 of the Book of Proverbs talk about the merits of Wisdom.  What light is to our visual sight, Wisdom is to our spiritual sight.  We need full light, complete Wisdom.  Light is a great metaphor!

As we embrace the light of knowledge, that benefit of Wisdom, it will grow on us until we’re living as wise people in full light.  Shining ever brighter as it says in verse 18.  Today is the first gleam compared to eternity’s full light.

Our job is to walk in the way of righteousness so that as many people as possible will see the first gleam. Together, as a growing community called the Church, we glory in increasing brightness today and the full light of the coming New Jerusalem.

Fun fact of light:  We’ve seen before that humans can see a visible spectrum of light that involves colors.  But did you know the colors of light on our computers or smartphones may contribute to eye strain, changed biochemical profiles in our bodies, and ruin our sleep?

Authors Skye Gould and Kevin Loria, Tech Insider writers for Business Insider suggest that’s why the iPhone developers came up with “Night Shift” which is a setting allowing a warmer range of colors.  They write,

In general, looking at your phone at night is a terrible idea.

Smartphone screens emit bright blue light so you can see them even at the sunniest times of day.

But at night, your brain gets confused by that light, as it mimics the brightness of the sun. This causes the brain to stop producing melatonin, a hormone that gives your body the “time to sleep” cues. Because of this, smartphone light can disrupt your sleep cycle, making it harder to fall and stay asleep — and potentially causing serious health problems along the way.

For further thought:

Is your light dimly burning or are you displaying the light of Christ as shining ever brighter?

Matthew 5:16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

Thank You, Jesus that Your light guides us to Wisdom.  Thank You for the privilege of sharing You with other people.  May we never forget the beautiful invitation to full light of Wisdom in relationship with you.  An invitation of grace, that unmerited favor which (by definition) we did nothing to deserve.  Thank You that while we were still sinners, You died for our sins.  We praise You and we thank You, Lord Jesus.  Amen.

Psalm 139:7 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? 8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. 9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, 10 even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. 11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” 12 even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you … 23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

Issues of light and darkness are no obstacle for God.  It’s not like He has X-ray vision.  He can just see everywhere, all the time, and He knows everything.  For that reason, when Scripture says that “darkness is as light to Him” we can understand that to mean that He is inescapable.  There is no place we can go to escape Him and nothing we can do that He can’t see.

How does it make you feel that God can see everything? 

We can get upset that the NSA can see into our homes and listen in on our conversations.  God can do it without equipment, technology, and even without a warrant (ahem).  And His memory is flawless.  Darkness—perhaps an issue for some types of NSA surveillance—is no obstacle for God.  It’s like He has one of those night vision goggles on … except He doesn’t need them.

Fun Fact of Light:  According to How Stuff Works (Tech), author Jeff Tyson writes :

“The first thing you probably think of when you see the words night vision is a spy or action movie you’ve seen, in which someone straps on a pair of night-vision goggles to find someone else in a dark building on a moonless night. And you may have wondered “Do those things really work? Can you actually see in the dark?”

The answer is most definitely yes. With the proper night-vision equipment, you can see a person standing over 200 yards (183 m) away on a moonless, cloudy night! Night vision can work in two very different ways, depending on the technology used.

Image enhancement – This works by collecting the tiny amounts of light, including the lower portion of the infrared light spectrum, that are present but may be imperceptible to our eyes, and amplifying it to the point that we can easily observe the image.

Thermal imaging – This technology operates by capturing the upper portion of the infrared light spectrum, which is emitted as heat by objects instead of simply reflected as light. Hotter objects, such as warm bodies, emit more of this light than cooler objects like trees or buildings.”

For further thought: 

• Read all of Psalm 139.  It’s often used to support the pro-life position in the abortion debate.  How might God’s ability to see all that we do speak to that debate?
• How might the obstacle of vision in darkness be resolved?  For insight, read 1 Corinthians 13:12 “Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known” and also Revelation 21:23 “The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. 24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. 25 On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there.”

Thank You, Father, that even though You see all things and know all things, yet you do not count men’s sins against them once they’ve been forgiven in Christ.  Thank You for Your great love to those who fear You and for removing our transgressions from us. (Psalm 103:11-14)   Thank You for Your compassion upon us even though we are dust and a breath, here today and gone tomorrow. 

If you’ve ever wanted a psalm to identify all the virtues of the law, Psalm 119 would be it.  One of the virtues extolled in this acrostic (alphabetic) psalm is that the law gives light.   It’s the unfolding light of understanding.  When the beauty and effectiveness of the law are examined and applied, well, this inspection opens up a whole new understanding.  God’s words in Scripture, unfolded and explained, give light.

Truth be told, I sometimes get a little sad at not preaching anymore.  For a while, I was preaching every week instead of listening to someone else do it.  It’s one of the tragic flaws of ministry that when one is gifted for preaching/teaching, it’s kind of tough to listen to other people do it.  Even pulpit pastors who can hit the target within the first 20 minutes of trying still present the pew-preacher (kind of like an armchair quarterback) with plenty of opportunity to second guess, act as an analyst, and generally spend the time drifting into how they would present it differently, or maybe better.

We’re supposed to be listening for learning.  To have that unfolding light, the light of understanding impact our lives.  After all, the whole point of listening to a sermon is to have it open the Word to understanding, right?

God desires we listen, we learn, and that the exposition and preaching of His Word will give us light of understanding!

Fun Fact of Light:  The Chandra X-Ray Observatory at Harvard tells this story about X-rays and the ability to see through to details otherwise invisible to the naked eye.   

“A new form of radiation was discovered in 1895 by Wilhelm Roentgen, a German physicist. He called it X-radiation to denote its unknown nature. This mysterious radiation had the ability to pass through many materials that absorb visible light. X-rays also have the ability to knock electrons loose from atoms. Over the years these exceptional properties have made X-rays useful in many fields, such as medicine and research into the nature of the atom.  Eventually, X-rays were found to be another form of light.”

There’s something mysterious about X-rays, especially for writers of science fiction stories or superhero comics.  In them, X-ray vision is usually an ability to see through solid objects at the selective choice of the one having this superpower (e.g. notable and iconic Superman of DC Comics).

According to Chad Orzel, physics contributor at Forbes who was enjoying exposing the notion of X-ray vision,

“Medical X-ray images aren’t made by focusing light to make an image, they’re made by putting the detector directly behind the target and blasting x-rays at it.  Really, they are just the shadows cast by stuff in front of them, like one of those photosensitive walls you see at science museums.”

For further study:

In the Bible there were plenty of people who heard the Word but never had it unfolded.  Their spiritual blindness hardened their hearts to where they couldn’t see the light.  Read Luke 8.  How did Jesus speaking in parables accomplish this?  His disciples asked Jesus to explain.  Luke 8:10 He said, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that, “‘though seeing, they may not see; though hearing, they may not understand.'”

Read Nehemiah 8:1-12.  In it, Ezra reads the Book of the Law.  Note the reactions people had to the Word of God giving them light of understanding.

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.  (Psalm 119:105)

Surrounded by a world of darkness, a lamp isn’t just helpful, it’s necessary for vision, for safety, and for direction on the way to go. 

About the need for a lamp, I have a fond childhood memory that began with a terrible storm that came through Chicagoland when I was in the 1^st or 2^nd grade.  Chicago is not called the Windy City for nothing and throughout Illinois, some storms produce enough twisters to consider it part of “Tornado Alley.”  During one of these storms, the electric power went out at our house. 

It was night.  It was dark.  The wind was howling.  It was truly scary.

My dad brought out a kerosene lantern and set it on the table. 

I’m not sure why we had it or when we got it.  But I remember his setting it on the table in the kitchen and it lit the entire room.  Our whole family played board games since there wasn’t much else to do to pass the time as a family while we distracted ourselves from the sound of the storm.

Light can make all the difference. 

True to the title of the devotional series for Lent, there’s nothing like it to our physical sight, in the realm of physics, of nature, or as a parallel to spiritual sight. The Bible tells us that God’s Word is a lamp for our feet and a light for our path.  With it, we can see.  We can avoid stumbling blocks.  We can walk in safety and confidence, and know where we’re going. 

Just as all our neighbors wondered if we had power because they could see the light from our kerosene lantern, people will wonder why our lives have power, direction, and purpose when we walk by the light of His Word as a lamp to our feet.

Fun fact of light:  The Miner’s Cap Lamp.  According to the National Museum of American History,

The depth, the dark, and the dangers inherent in mining created a uniquely dangerous working environment for the miner. Miners faced death from collapsing mines, oxygen deprivation, and haulage accidents, with the specter of fatal lung disease remaining even after the miner had left the mines. But the most instantaneous and catastrophic loss of life was caused by explosions due to miner’s lamps igniting methane gas.

A miner’s light was essential to their labor. Without light there was no sight, no work, and no wages. But this essential light was also lethal. Open flames could ignite the inflammable gas especially prevalent in coal mines …

After a series of mining explosions from open flames Congress authorized the U.S. Bureau of Mines (1910) which “turned their attention to the new technology of electric lamps in an effort to curtail accidents through the elimination of flames and an improvement in lighting. In 1915 the Bureau approved the MSA Edison Flameless Electric Miners’ Cap Lamp, beginning the age of electric mine illumination that correlated with a steady decrease in mining accidents.”

For further thought:

• Consider that God’s Word as a lamp brings safety and hope yet there’s also something dangerous about it.  It’s dangerous to a way of life that grieves God when employed by one who genuinely desires to follow Christ.
• Read Ephesians 4:17 So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. 18 They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. 19 Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more. 20 You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. 21 Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. 
• A miner’s livelihood was based upon the weight of coal mined.  Considering the reward of light for our path, can we see why a miner, like a Christian, might consider productivity a worthwhile tradeoff for the danger of having a lamp to light our way and make us effective?

Thank You, Lord Jesus, for the convicting power of Your Holy Spirit.  For the way He applies Your Word to our lives as a lamp to our feet.  For the way He guides us toward righteousness and preserves us from the dangers and stumbling blocks.  May we always have teachable hearts and spiritual sight in Christ.  Amen.

Light is His.  It belongs to God.  It’s been that way since the beginning of time.

Psalm 104:1 Praise the LORD, O my soul. O LORD my God, you are very great; you are clothed with splendor and majesty. 2 He wraps himself in light as with a garment; he stretches out the heavens like a tent 3 and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters. He makes the clouds his chariot and rides on the wings of the wind…19 The moon marks off the seasons, and the sun knows when to go down. 20 You bring darkness, it becomes night, and all the beasts of the forest prowl. 21 The lions roar for their prey and seek their food from God. 22 The sun rises, and they steal away; they return and lie down in their dens. 23 Then man goes out to his work, to his labor until evening.

What a beautiful poetic description of God as Creator!  The psalmist praises God saying “He wraps Himself in light.” All the lights of the heavens and even the wind and clouds obey His command.  They serve Him.  Light is His.  Yet He sends darkness in the rhythm of life… so that when the sun also rises, mankind knows to work while it is daylight.

Have you ever thought about light having God as Creator just as much as any animal or human?  His fingerprints are on every beam of light.  Every light wave, every particle bears His signature as its maker.  There is nothing like it!  It bears His signature, yet as unique as light is, it does not bear His seal of ownership in the same way that believers in Christ have with the Holy Spirit.

What makes God’s signature as Creator different from His seal of ownership as Savior?

Ever since the fall of man, all of creation groans because of the sin of mankind.  But only man can receive the Holy Spirit.  Someday in heaven, believers in Jesus Christ will see God face-to-face.  Our eyes will be equipped in perfection to absorb the full intensity of God’s light, the light that is His!  Our hearts and minds will be fully cleansed by the indwelling Holy Spirit to grow in knowledge perfectly and to see God in all His glory.

For now, the full intensity of God’s light, the fullness of His glory, cannot be seen directly or it would kill us.  God’s Word, however, will lead us to greater spiritual sight until the day we are perfected in Christ.

Fun Fact of Light:  Don’t look at the sun’s light directly.  Why?  According to Gizmodo,  

The moment you begin looking at the sun, you start to develop a sunburn on your eyeball. Of the three types of light that the sun produces—visible, infrared, and ultraviolet—UV is the most damaging to structures within the eye, especially when reflected off sand, snow or water. The cells of the cornea, the transparent outer layer of the eye, will blister and crack when overexposed to UV light. It’s a lot like a normal sunburn… Luckily, the effect is almost always temporary, dissipating within 36 hours, and can be prevented by wearing UV-rated eye wear.

With enough damage to the retina, though, staring at the sun can leave you partially blind. Prolonged UV exposure can damage the macula…[and] cause macular degeneration, eventually resulting in permanent blindness in the center of your field of vision. Basically, that black dot you see after a photo flash would just never go away.

For further thought:

In Exodus 33:15-23, Moses wants to see God’s glory and God says, 20 But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.”

How does God resolve the situation in verses 21-23?

Come, O house of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the LORD. (Isaiah 2:5)

What does it mean to walk in the light of God’s presence, the light of the LORD? 

Well, if walking in darkness is increasing ignorance of God’s ways and rebellion against Him, then walking in God’s light ought to mean continually learning the ways of God and increasingly following Him.  That is the only way to find favor in His eyes. 

Use it or lose it.

I must admit, I look at the headlines every morning and wonder … do these people have no fear of God?  To willingly do what is evil, to spread lies, to plot secretly, to covet power … these things aren’t the way to please God’s heart.  They go from bad to worse.  Is this the modern equivalent of Pharaoh’s hardened heart?

If you read that entire passage in Isaiah 2, you’ll find it’s talking about the Last Days.  There is the mountain of the LORD, a place of God’s temple and worship and it’s open to all who are willing to learn His ways, walk in the light of His paths, love His law, cherish His word, and submit to His judgments. 

But then there’s the rest of the chapter. 

It’s devoted to the Day of the LORD and describes those who refused God’s light. 

These evildoers burrow deeper and deeper into darkness.  They try to hide from the light of God. 

Go into the rocks, hide in the ground from dread of the LORD and the splendor of his majesty! (Isaiah 2:10)

Yeah, it’s in Isa 2:10, 2:19, 2:21—the same thing of finding a hole, a crag, or a cave in which to hide.  (Good grief!  As if God can’t see in the dark or have the ability to peer into a cave. Only arrogance could blind people to God’s superior vision and wisdom!)

Those who walk in the light of the LORD do not need to fear the Day of the LORD.  Everyone else needs to worry…big time.  Way too many people have absolutely no fear of God.  But use it or lose it!  They’re fools in darkness. And God promises that they’ll learn someday what they now refuse to believe, but only when it’s too late for them.  Friends don’t let friends walk in darkness when they can walk in the light of God.

Fun fact of light:  Use it or lose it from National Geographic.   “Few animals have ignored the warning “use it or lose it” as spectacularly as the Mexican blind cavefish (Astyanax mexicanus), which no longer has eyes… “Any animal that lives in permanent darkness and doesn’t need vision to find food or avoid predators won’t really need their eyes or visual centers in the brain,” adds Moran, currently a researcher at Seafood Technologies Group, Nelson, New Zealand.  Indeed, the findings also show that blind A. mexicanus have a significantly smaller midbrain, the part that deals with vision….

These omnivorous fish compensate for lack of vision by eating just about anything they can find, including scavenging dead animals and plants.”

For further thought:

In Isaiah 2:11 “The eyes of the arrogant man will be humbled and the pride of men brought low; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.”  How are light and sight connected?  How are light and knowledge connected?  What trait of humanity will be exposed in God’s light?

In Isaiah 2:22 “Stop trusting in man, who has but a breath in his nostrils. Of what account is he?”  How does this form the moral of the story?  And how does light give us life?

Thank You, Father, that You sent Jesus to open the eyes of the blind so we might learn to walk in Your light.  We praise You for Your goodness and Your holiness.  May we never take for granted that You alone are God and all will be humbled before You.  Be glorified in us today.  Amen.

Isaiah 35:1 The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom. Like the crocus, 2 it will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon; they will see the glory of the LORD, the splendor of our God. 3 Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; 4 say to those with fearful hearts, “Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you.” 5 Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. 6 Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert. 7 The burning sand will become a pool, the thirsty ground bubbling springs. In the haunts where jackals once lay, grass and reeds and papyrus will grow. 8 And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness. The unclean will not journey on it; it will be for those who walk in that Way; wicked fools will not go about on it. 9 No lion will be there, nor will any ferocious beast get up on it; they will not be found there. But only the redeemed will walk there, 10 and the ransomed of the LORD will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.

Psalm 76:1 In Judah God is known; his name is great in Israel. 2 His tent is in Salem, his dwelling place in Zion. 3 There he broke the flashing arrows, the shields and the swords, the weapons of war. Selah 4 You are resplendent with light, more majestic than mountains rich with game. 5 Valiant men lie plundered, they sleep their last sleep; not one of the warriors can lift his hands. 6 At your rebuke, O God of Jacob, both horse and chariot lie still. 7 You alone are to be feared. Who can stand before you when you are angry? 8 From heaven you pronounced judgment, and the land feared and was quiet– 9 when you, O God, rose up to judge, to save all the afflicted of the land. Selah 10 Surely your wrath against men brings you praise, and the survivors of your wrath are restrained. 11 Make vows to the LORD your God and fulfill them; let all the neighboring lands bring gifts to the One to be feared. 12 He breaks the spirit of rulers; he is feared by the kings of the earth.

Perhaps there’s no better time than Lent to remind ourselves that God is no one for us to mess with.  It is arrogance alone to think we’re a match for Him. It’s an assault upon Him and His holiness for us to think we can just go ahead and go our own way with no consequences.

This psalm states something genuinely foreign to many of us—or at least something that we really don’t like.  God’s wrath against man brings Him praise.  He is resplendent with light!  And it’s the fear of His wrath and His power that ought to cultivate a healthy regard for His divinity.

Sometimes people will think there’s some Old Testament God who was kind of petulant and would throw fits and kill people.  Like in the flood.  And then there’s some New Testament God like Jesus who hugs lambs and children.  Sorry.  They’re one and the same and He is both a holy God and a just God.  He is a God of love and a God of wrath.  And God displayed both perfectly in His Son Jesus crucified. 

1 Corinthians 1:18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

Fun fact of light:  Light is nothing to mess with.  Responding to the question “Is there a way to harness electricity from lightning?”, MIT professor of electrical engineering James Kirtley says, “Sure, it’s possible. But it might not be worth it…Benjamin Franklin was really lucky his kite wasn’t struck by lightning” … The average lightning strike contains about 1 million joules, enough energy to fry the founding father in his boots.” 

Light seems harmless enough, but when it displays its raw power as it does in lightning, it can kill you.

NOAA says the odds of your being struck by lightning in your lifetime are 1/13,000 and the odds in any given year are 1/1,042,000.  Only 1 in 10 people struck by lightning is killed and the rest suffer various injuries, yet we all accept the deadly power of lightning though its beauty is resplendent.

For further thought:

• The likelihood of God displaying His wrath is 100% not just 1/13,000.  That’s because He’s holy and that means perfect.  God will never fail to display His wrath against sin.  Chances of sin’s punishment?  100%
• If this is the case, why do so many people minimize sin?
• Read Romans 1:16-21 The wrath of God is being revealed and no one is immune from it no matter what your culture or even your pastor might tell you.  What matters is what God thinks about whether your lifestyle is sinful or not.  What matters is what God thinks about other world religions and your blended acceptance of them into your faith life.
• Is Jesus everyone’s Get Out of Consequences Free card? Why or why not?
• How did God satisfy His wrath yet preserve believers from eternal damnation? 

Lord Jesus, thank You for taking my sin upon Yourself and dying to satisfy the wrath of God against my sin.  Please LORD, keep me from sinning against You.  Thank You for the Gospel.  Thank You for Your mercy.  Lead me by the light of Your Word to remind me of Your resplendent light, Your immeasurable power, Your perfect holiness, and Your incomparable might.  Humble me under Your merciful hand and preserve my life.  Amen.

Psalm 56:1 Be merciful to me, O God, for men hotly pursue me; all day long they press their attack. 2 My slanderers pursue me all day long; many are attacking me in their pride. 3 When I am afraid, I will trust in you. 4 In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can mortal man do to me? 5 All day long they twist my words; they are always plotting to harm me. 6 They conspire, they lurk, they watch my steps, eager to take my life. 7 On no account let them escape; in your anger, O God, bring down the nations. 8 Record my lament; list my tears on your scroll–are they not in your record? 9 Then my enemies will turn back when I call for help. By this I will know that God is for me. 10 In God, whose word I praise, in the LORD, whose word I praise– 11 in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? 12 I am under vows to you, O God; I will present my thank offerings to you. 13 For you have delivered me from death and my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before God in the light of life.

In the Bible, the “light of life” is a phrase meaning the fullness of life.  Life on full display.  On the big screen, not just the hand-held device. 

How do we have that fullness of life, that “light of life”?

You may have heard the phrase “Seeing is believing” but in the case of God and us, “Believing is seeing.”  We know Him by more than just sight.  We know Him by His act of Creation that we can see and continue to know Him by trusting in His Word.  That’s how we’ll have fullness of life, the light of life. 

In today’s psalm, David is being pursued by people he can see and hear.  He knows what they’re plotting.  He turns instead to the One he cannot see or audibly hear except by faith.  Look over the psalm and note how sight and sound dominate man’s approach. 

How easy it would be to rely only upon what he can see and hear! 

But look at the response of David: praise, trust, confidence in the fullness of life.  Trusting in God’s Word, David had spiritual sight to overcome opposition that was both audible and visible.  Sometimes we just have to stick with what we know, and by faith, see.

Fun fact of light:  According to the National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL), it is “not possible to have thunder without lightning. Thunder is a direct result of lightning. However, it IS possible that you might see lightning and not hear the thunder because it was too far away. Sometimes this is called “heat lightning” because it occurs most often in the summer.” 

Thunder is produced when lightning–a giant flash of electricity from charges in the atmosphere– break from the natural insulation of clouds, air, etc.  The result is a rapid discharge of electricity which equalizes the charges in the atmosphere.  What makes the sound? 

According to NSSL, “Thunder is caused by lightning. The bright light of the lightning flash … represents a great deal of energy. This energy heats the air in the channel to above 50,000 degrees F in only a few millionths of a second! The air that is now heated to such a high temperature had no time to expand, so it is now at a very high pressure. The high pressure air then expands outward into the surrounding air compressing it and causing a disturbance that propagates in all directions away from the stroke. The disturbance is a shock wave for the first 10 yards, after which it becomes an ordinary sound wave, or thunder.” 

We see the lightning before hearing the thunder because light waves travel faster than sound waves.  Yet, we can see “heat lightning” without hearing thunder and sometimes, depending on where we are, we can hear rumbles of thunder but not see the lightning.  Yet we know it’s there.  Believing is seeing in the light of life.

For further study:

• Read John 20:29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” 
• In this story about Thomas, one of Jesus’ disciples, physical light led to physical vision.  But how does spiritual light lead to spiritual vision? 
• Which one, physical light or spiritual light, leads to the fullness, the light of life?

Have you ever thought about your life in terms of degrees of magnitude … how abundant, how vast are your life characteristics of love, faithfulness, righteousness, and justice? 

For God, they’re so big they can’t be measured and moreover, so amazing they can’t be contained.  It is as a fountain of life, the magnitude of God’s light.

Psalm 36:5 Your love, O LORD, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. 6 Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the great deep. O LORD, you preserve both man and beast. 7 How priceless is your unfailing love! Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings. 8 They feast on the abundance of your house; you give them drink from your river of delights. 9 For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light. 10 Continue your love to those who know you, your righteousness to the upright in heart. 

This psalm is all about abundance and magnitude.  In its totality, Psalm 36 is a study contrasting the most evil and the greatest good.  The evil unrepentant ones in this world—whether great or small–end up in ruin.  The ones with faith as small as a mustard seed have life. 

What’s the point in giving it your all if even the tiniest faith can save?  Does God value economy of effort or magnitude of love?  

There’s a greater reward in heaven for giving it our all. 

When we shine and reflect God’s love and faithfulness, righteousness and justice to other people, is it on again off again like an SOS to the world?  Is it bright enough, light abundant enough to be truly read as the magnitude of love or is it just some light flashing on and off dimly in the night, hoping that someone can decode the message before disaster strikes? 

Fun fact of light:  Light intensity can be a matter of magnitude, vastness or quantity of light rays, plus how close they are to the source.  The distance from the Earth to the Sun is not dramatically different even from season to season, let alone hour by hour.  Of course, the Earth’s orbit is not a perfect circle, but more of an ellipse.  Earth’s closest point of orbit is called the perihelion and in the Earth’s revolution, it happens in early January.  At that point it is about 91 million miles from the Sun.  At some point in early July, the Earth will be at its farthest from the Sun at approximately 94.5 million miles a mere 3.8% difference from its closest point.

So why do the rays of the Sun seem most intense in the early afternoon irrespective of season, but markedly so in the summer? 

Well, there is the Earth’s shape—round—and therefore the Sun’s rays don’t fall on all parts of the planet equally. Places that face the Sun directly get sunlight from directly overhead, while places off to the side get sunlight at an angle.  Therefore, the density of rays is less and the more atmosphere each ray must pass through before it reaches our eyes.  The Earth’s axial tilt, rotation, and distance from the Sun all play a part in our light intensity at dawn, mid-day and dusk, hour by hour, and season by season.

For further thought:

• Why have increasing faith when even faith as small as a mustard seed can move mountains?
• How can we expect the world to see the magnitude of love that God has for us if our faith is only expressed as an SOS when we want God to bail us out?
• Thinking about light hitting the Earth, how can we orient ourselves to best receive God’s light and to display it with the greatest magnitude and consistency?

Thank you, Lord Jesus that You gave Your life so we might know the magnitude of the Father’s love.  Help us to have faith that grows and not to settle for tiny faith on our timetable and kept in a drawer for when we think we need it.  Help us to shine as Your light and be a city on a hill.  We praise You for Your love!  Amen.