Good morning on this Saturday, June 21. At 7:59 p.m. last night, the sun reached its highest point in the sky marking the summer solstice and the longest day of the year. It occurs each year on June 20 or 21 when the earth tilts on its axis the most toward the sun to reach its northern-most extreme, illuminating an area from the far side of the arctic circle to the near side of Antarctica. Now the days will begin getting shorter until in December with the arrival of the winter solstice, the day of the shortest day of the year, the days begin to become longer again. When I was a boy, I loved the long summer days of play, riding my bicycle, playing baseball, and running around with my friends until darkness closed in about 9:00 in the evening. Now these many years later, I still enjoy the long days of daylight and the many benefits the extra hours of daylight afford for so many activities. When I was working my way through college, I frequently had to work the midnight shift from 11:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. which meant being up through the night and sleeping during the day when it was light. I never adjusted well to that schedule because it seemed so unnatural to be trying to sleep when my mind told me I should be awake and vice versa. Jesus is called "the light of the world" and the Bible says, "God is light." In Heaven there will be no night and no need for lamps nor sunlight because the Lord God will give us light (Rev. 22:5). If you are like me and love the light, you will love the Christian life and walk because we can "walk in the light as He (Christ) is in the light" and have fellowship with God and each other. That is a touch of Heaven because it is exactly what we will experience there. Here men love darkness because their deeds are evil (John 3:19), but there no darkness will be found - only the brightness of God's light. Receiving Christ as Savior is depicted as being called out of darkness into the light (1 Peter 2:9). Some people suffer from a condition called S.A.D. (Seasonal Affective Disorder) which is a depression caused by the lack of sunlight during the dark days of winter. The treatment is exposure to a light source for prescribed periods of time each day to alleviate the depression. We all need a certain amount of light in our lives. So enjoy these wonderful long light-filled days; it is a prelude of Heaven and living in the light of God's Word and His Son is truly a taste of Heaven in the here and now. Light does amazing things for us in body, soul and spirit. It is God's gift because it is His nature. Filling our lives with God's word and presence lights our lives in a way nothing else can. The enlightened person is full of light!
Tomorrow's sermon is part four in the prophecy updater series. I hope to see you there.
Mel Brown