Sunday Night Devo

Corders — Sept. 3, 2006

While the debate rages about which number this is, I still like coming to the Corders house on Labor Day Eve for hot dogs and homemade ice cream. The trip is worth it. The distance doesn’t seem long when you have homemade ice cream waiting. The time it takes is worth the conversation we get to have. And if we wait long enough, we may get to see some stars appear and see the sky without as much city light. Well worth it.

I’ll never forget the night that our family came out here before Gordon had built the house. It was a crisp chilly November night. The kids had to go to school the next day, but they wanted to come. We had gone to bed and then got up and drove out here to watch the meteor shower. As I recall, we got here around 3 am or so. We brought cots and sleeping bags and set them up with our faces partially covered and our eyes looking heavenward. And we were treated to quite a show. In my mind I can still see one of the largest meteors that night as it hit the earth’s atmosphere—it literally had a bright white tail as it streaked across the sky and almost as quickly as it appeared it burned up in our atmosphere and died away. Hundreds that night. Our kids survived. They took a nap on the way back into the city and dragged through the next day at school. I don’t know if they remember it, but I do.

It is the sky that I want to think about. When we look up into a night sky, how can we deny a creator? Dr. A. Cressy Morrison, former president of the New York Academy of Sciences helps us understand that this universe is by design. If I take 10 pennies and mark them from 1—10 and put all ten pennies in my pocket, what would be my chance of reaching into my pocket and pulling out the penny marked “1”? (1 in 10). Would you be surprised if I did that? Let’s say I put the number 1 penny back in my pocket and reached in and had to pull out the penny marked 1 first and then follow it with the number 2 penny. What chance do I have? (1 in 100). What if I reached in and pulled out number 3? 1 in 1000. If I were to draw out each number in sequential order the likelihood that I could do it from 1—10 would be 1 in 10 billion. While not impossible, chances are slim.

Psalm 19:1—4 says “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. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the worlds.”

Let’s consider some facts:

Temperature. The sun is 12,000 degrees Fahrenheit. All of earth’s heat is from the sun. We are 93 million miles away—just the right distance. If the earth’s temperature were an average of 50 degrees hotter or colder, all life would cease to exist. If the earth were any closer or any further away, life could not exist.

Rotation. Earth rotates 365 times each year as it passes around the sun. Suppose it rotated 36 times instead? Our days and nights would be 10 times as long. We would be extremely hot on one side and extremely cold on the other and life would disappear.

Air. 21% of our atmosphere is oxygen and it is constant. Why 21%? Why not 50%? Because a single strike from a match and we would all be on fire.

This earth was made to support life. It was designed by God for one reason—life to exist and that we may glorify and praise him. Stick around and see a star or two and marvel at God’s wonderful design.

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