“Their voice has gone out through all the earth, Their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun, Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, Like a strong man rejoicing to run his course. His going forth is from the end of the heavens, His circuit to the ends of it; There is nothing hid from the heat of it.” Psalm 19:4-6 WEB

The Son Lights the World

In science class all those many years ago, back when Pluto was still a planet. I learned that the planets and their order are all based on their distance from the sun. The sun is the center of how we ordered the planets essentially making it the center of the universe. The center of our world is Christ – the Son.

The sun faithfully rises every day, even through the clouds. God created the sun and orchestrates its arrival every day. God is faithful in our lives too. He never leaves us. The famous passage of Psalm 23, tells us how God is with us even in our dark days. “Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me.” (Psalm 23:4a NLT).

God Is Faithful

God’s faithfulness to us surpasses anything like it. He loves us unconditionally. We don’t earn His love by doing good works and we don’t fall out of His love by sinning.

Jesus describes himself in John 8:12 as the light of the world. Earlier this week I was questioning whether we are living our lives in the light of the Son that illuminates our path. Does the world know we are part of the light or the darkness because of our actions and words?

Four Ways to Keep God at the Center of Our Universe

To keep God at the center of our universe, we must:

Make God First

Our relationship with God should supersede any others. Our spouses and our kids should come after our relationship with God. Making God our number one priority will help the other relationships fall into their respective places. When we keep Him at the center focus we can pursue other relationships – like our marriage is made of three people – God, my husband, and me. 

Read the Word

Diving deep into the words that God provides. His Word is our daily bread meaning we need it daily. I’ve found that not only reading the Word but studying it. I dive in deeper trying to find out more about the passages and the author of the book. I like to read about the history, to see what was happening around this time, where it took place, and where that is present day.

Pray

Prayer can be an intimate connection with God if we take the opportunity to spend time with God. We have the opportunity to lay our burdens down and have an intimate relationship with God. Through prayer, we can intercede for others as well. There are days when I use my prayer time to sit with God and listen for Him instead of rattling off a laundry list of requests. 

Repent

When we fall away from God, life becomes hectic and chaotic and we start missing our daily reading and prayer times. Diagnosis and hardships come at us, and we seem to be slipping from God. Stop right there and refocus on God.  When we start slipping from God it’s because we take our focus off Him and start looking at ourselves and at our circumstances. This reminds me of Peter and his encounter with Jesus as Jesus walked on the water towards the boat of disciples, “‘Come,’ he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind and waves, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’ Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. ‘You of little faith,’ he said, ‘why did you doubt?’” (Matthew 14:29-31 NIV) We all let circumstances and outside influences take our focus off Jesus, just a sliver of doubt had Peter sinking into the water. The minute we lose focus on Jesus and start to slip, we must stop and refocus our thoughts back on Jesus, repenting of our sins. 

When God is First in Our Lives

When we put God first in our lives, things fall into line. It feels complicated at times to have an intimate relationship with God through prayer, but the sooner you stop having hang-ups and start talking to Him, the sooner you’ll feel closer to Him. God doesn’t ask for you to recite elaborate prayers to Him, He just asks for you to open your heart and pour it out to Him. God’s always available to each of us, no appointment necessary, no fancy education or degree, we each have the opportunity to have an intimate relationship with Him.

Let Us Pray

Dear Heavenly Father, 

Thank you for being the light. Lord may I project Your light to others and may they see Your light through my words and actions. Forgive me for the times that I’ve not been a good steward of your light but help me to change my ways. Thank You, Lord. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

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