In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

(Genesis 1:1)

When I turn on my computer and start the internet connection, one of the things that pops up is the NASA image of the day. Just about everyday, the image is a great view of our universe around us. The stars, the gas clouds, the nebulae, the clusters and galaxies. Photos from the surface of Mars and moons of Saturn.
We read in Psalm 19:1 in a psalm by David: "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the expanse proclaims His handiwork."
A long, long time ago, a shepard boy looked up at the sky. A sky that hadn't been touched by the electric lights of cities. A sky that did indeed show the glory of God. That young man of course was David. And the sights that he did see!
Have you ever looked up at the sky free from light pollution? Where the stars are so bright you can see your way around? I have and it is indeed awesome.
I was standing on the sand in a country called Kuwait, preparing to go to war, and looked up to the sky and say the stars. There were no lights around, not one street light, house light or security light. I didn't need a light to see by. The stars were enough. As I looked, I realized the immenseness of space. And the peace of God. The glory of the Lord.
I can imagine David, in his battles with Saul, standing and looking up at the night sky and feeling the presence of God in all His majesty.
Journey away from the city. Look to the heavens and see the glory of the Lord. Experience the sight that David wrote about:
The heavens declare the glory of God; and the expanse proclaims His handiwork.

Until next time on my front porch.

This is a view of a whole lot of stars. This photo, from NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day, is of NGC 290 and is called an open cluster.
These stars are 200, 000 light years away in the Small Cloud of Magellan, a galaxy-which is a neighbor of ours!

It is amazing, on clear dark night, to gaze up and look at the stars overhead. To spot the constellations and even to name a few stars. And maybe even see a meteor.
Stars inspire us. We call famous people stars, we call our children stars, we number our prize athletes stars and vote them onto all-star teams.
And God calls us His stars also.
In Phillippians we read "so that you may be blameless and innocent, God's children without any faults among a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine like stars in the world "
(Philippians 2:15)
Did you see that last part? Shine like stars in the world. To be called a star is pretty cool, but also there is meaning behind this verse.
Remember, we look up at stars, so we are to live so that others can look up to us and see Christ in us.
On a dark, starry night, you can actually see due to the star light. We need to shine, to light the way for a dark world, just like stars. How do we do that? Be being blameless and innocent before others. It is who we are.
It takes a nuclear engine to fuel a star to shine so bright. Our fusion reactor is Jesus in our hearts. He fuels our light.
So, shine on!