It must be a lovely sight when seen from space, this blue planet of ours, as it spins around the sun in the orbit into which God has placed it. But beautiful though it may be, still it’s only a small sphere encircling the smallish ball of energy that holds it within its gravitational pull.
Our earth is a speck that’s so tiny it’s only a pinprick in the universe. A few years ago I placed a National Geographic map of the solar system on our church’s bulletin board just to emphasize this fact. Without a push pin placed to point it out, it would have been lost in the maze of galaxies that fill our solar system. And who’s to say how many solar systems are scattered throughout deep space?
So what makes our cozy little earth-home so special? Well, the fact that it’s livable is not bad for a starter. We’ve been told that Mars is a rather unfriendly place. And though it’s interesting that we’ve made some efforts toward exploring it, I’m not sure how many of us would want to volunteer to be among the first earthlings to colonize the Red Planet. I somehow question whether we’ll ever see any great migration in that direction or toward any of our sister planets.
Do you suppose God has a system of biology in place somewhere other than on earth? Should we expect to discover (or to be discovered by) some form of intelligent life from outer space? Genesis tells us who created the heavens, as well as the earth and its inhabitants. Whatever exists anywhere, exists because God made it. We can be comfortable knowing it’s his universe. But at the risk of being presumptuous, I suggest that we all find something better to do than search the night sky expecting to find E.T.’s friends paying us a visit.
We’re children of the earth. It fits our needs. God gave us oceans of water and enough soil and minerals to do what needs doing. He provided a sun that does its work well and a sky full of air to breathe. He gave us stars that twinkle at night. It’s a complex system, and much of it remains a mystery to us. It’s a gift from our majestic God. King David, who may have been God’s all-time favorite poet, says it like this:
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. God not only made our planet, he came to it in the form of Jesus of Nazareth. He loved the world of his creation, and sent his only Son to save its people. Let’s make the most of our stay here.