Yesterday, June 21, was
Father's Day. It was a time of appreciation for Dads. But yesterday was also
the summer solstice. While this date holds significance for various pagan and
cultic groups, it is also an important date for Christians to remember. The
beginning of each of the four seasons should be a reminder to you that God
keeps his promises. With the beginning of each new season, God is keeping the
promise he made to Noah for all mankind. After the destruction of the Flood,
God made a promise that the seasons would continue as long as the earth
endures. Even though man is evil, God promises he will never again destroy all
living creatures. Here is the promise as stated in Genesis 8:22:
As
long as the earth endures,
seedtime
and harvest,
cold
and heat,
summer
and winter,
day
and night
will
never cease.
Praise God for his
continual faithfulness to his Word!
Here is the way this
promise looks from a bit more technical perspective. Today, the Northern Hemisphere
will have less sunlight than yesterday, because the sun has started its march
southward. This movement of the sun in the sky actually occurs because of the
movement of the earth around the sun. According to God's plan the earth is
tilted 23 ½ degrees on its axis. As the earth revolves around the sun, the
northern point of the axis, the North Pole, points toward the sun from December
21 through June 21. The summer solstice is the time when the sun reaches its
most northern point in the sky and then begins its journey back towards the
equator. It will reach the equator in September and then continue on until the
Tropic of Capricorn is reached, next December. During this time the North Pole
points away from the sun and the South Pole then has its six months of pointing
towards the sun. Then the sun again turns north towards the equator in March
and finally reaches the Tropic of Cancer again next June.
It is the promise of God that
maintains this delicate cycle. It is the will of God that determined the tilt
of the earth's axis at 23 ½ degrees. This precise tilt is why we have our four
seasons. So, the changing of the seasons is a time for rejoicing and gratitude.
God continues to keep his promise. This means that you don't have to be
concerned about some the programs on television that claim the earth could be
flooded by the impact of a giant asteroid in the ocean, which would wipe out
all life. God has promised that this will not happen. Neither will unending
summers occur. God will maintain the seasons as long as he as determined for earth
to continue. Life is not random. God is in control.
Remind your children about
God's faithfulness in bringing each season, year after year. Take a moment to
thank God that you can trust his Word. Each season you see his plan at work and
his faithfulness displayed!
This article has been tagged with:
Thank you for reminders of wonderful information!! It is wonderful because it reflects a wonderful Creator.
This week is Vacation Bible School for us, and we are working our way through Genesis 1-9, ending on Friday with this exact question: DOES God keep His promises? You know: WHERE WAS GOD WHEN...?
Well...He was right there, holding everything together, keeping gravity working, spinning the earth like a top on his fingertip, all the while overseeing the billions of stars and fragments as they move around in space. AND...it is this God Who cares for US, knowing how many hairs we lost today, etc.
What a GREAT God.
Again, thanks for your reminders.
This promise is why "global warming" doesn't scare me. God is faithful. Always has been and always will be! :D