As the family watched the sunset in the cool evening at Wells in Somerset, the colours gradually changed from the deep red to the subtle orange. The trees seemed to stand tall and almost be taking in this radiance, soaking in God’s love. Their branches were not in competition but they seemed to reach out and join together as if joining in a communion of the last sunlight of that day. Two trees with their branches gently touching as if holding each others hands in a triangle, a trinity of love.
Love is a wonderful thing. We were created to share our lives with people and not to hide away in the earth. On a day that I heard a news report that Pope John Paul had a friendship with a women, I laughed at the very notion that this was either news, or even wrong. But what are true friendships? Surely friendships last beyond time and beyond mere trivial changes in public opinion. I have found true friendship always ready to carry on as if you had just been with them the day before, and there are no limits to what you can talk about. There are also friendships that last with the moment and then are gone, Job refers to friendships like these as rivers that come with the melt water and dry up in the desert heat.
Job 6:15-17
My brothers have dealt deceitfully like a brook,
Like the streams of the brooks that pass away,
Which are dark because of the ice,
And into which the snow vanishes.
When it is warm, they cease to flow;
When it is hot, they vanish from their place.
Does God reveal Himself to us gradually like a friend revealing facets of themselves. Through the bible He seems to do this. Overtime we see sin happening in front of God, we see yes there is the natural result from sin, but there is also the constant love of God reaching out and with his Son just gently reaching his fingers out to touch ours, as if guiding us through our life with love and friendship.
In the very creation of mankind we see Genesis use the very personal name of God – LORD God which can be rendered as Jehovah Elohim.
Genesis 2:7
And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.
Children at school refer to the teacher as either Sir, Miss or by their surname, but friends refer to each by their personal name, Christian name. Here we see God being referred to in His personal name when He formed us. Also when we read this account do you notice that we are so blessed that the LORD God did’t just create us, He formed us. Through His love and not through God’s need He formed us. When two people come together in love the natural result is a baby – we are God’s children. But why does it seem that nature follows and worships God unreservedly when we turn away from Him at every moment?
I was once asked in a very intense interview “Do you believe that mankind is good or bad?”
My reply was that mankind was innately good. God made mankind, men and women and said they were very good, but we are broken without the Trinity; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. When times get hard, like floods and wars, then we see people coming together to help each other. This is our inane goodness, but we need more than this to reach an everlasting life with God once more. We need the love of Jesus as he reached out on the cross; his sacrifice for us.
So as you look upon nature, upon the wondrous colours of a sunrise or sunset, think upon God creating us and saying we are very good with nature. That is God’s original design and He wants us to be back to that design through the work of the Holy Spirit, through Jesus, to the Father. Think on that act of love to create each one of us and ask God’s forgiveness and the strength to walk forward in hope and joy.
Dear LORD God,
help us all to see your act of love at creation and not to waste it.
Let us receive the presence of the Holy Spirit, sent from Jesus.
Let go out and make a difference shining forth that light in more acts of love.
in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Amen
365 Exhortations 