THE LONGEST DAY
This past Wednesday, June =
21,
marked the summer solstice in the northern hemisphere. This is one of two
solstices, days when the rays of the sun directly strike one of the two
tropical latitude lines. It is the day with the longest time between sunrise
and sunset, hence the longest day.
“There shall be no night there: They need no la=
mp nor
light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign
forever and ever” (Revelation 22:5). Notice John says there will be no
night there. While the summer solstice may be the longest day on earth, it
pales in comparison with eternity. Please notice some things about this whi=
ch
can give us great comfort.
No night.=
In John 3:19-20, Jesus says, “And this is the
condemnation, that the light has come into the w=
orld,
and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.20
“For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the
light, lest his deeds should be exposed. As a general rule, man conducts his
evil under the cover of darkness. Also, the Bible uses the idea of darkness=
to
illustrate evil. Since there will be no night, there will be no darkness. S=
ince
there will be no darkness, there will be no evil.
No fear.<=
/span> How many of us were afraid of the dark as children or
perhaps even now? A small boy, who was terribly afraid of the dark, was ask=
ed
by his mother to retrieve the broom from the back yard. “It’s d=
ark
out there,” he replied. “I know,” said his mother, “=
;but
Jesus is with you even in the dark.” The boy looked outside, the open=
ed
the door and said, “Jesus, if you’re out there, could you bring=
me
the broom.” We will not have anything to fear because those things we
fear will not be there.
God is th=
ere. With the thought of all the things that will not be =
in
heaven, there is one supreme thought: God
will be there. There will be no need for the sun, because God is there.
There will be no night because God is there. There will be no fear because =
God
is there. How wonderful to live eternally in the presence of the Almighty
Creator, the Most High God! I can remember as a child having the opportunit=
y to
get autographs from various baseball greats like Hank Aaron and Pete Rose. =
It
was a thrill to stand in their presence for a few moments. How much greater
will it be to live eternally with the Almighty God of the universe?
Let us so live that we may enjoy the eternal glories =
of
heaven in the presence of God.
--Lamar