1 Corinthians 15:41 “The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor.” NIV

As I lay awake in the black hole of sleeplessness, my eyes wandered to the crack in the blinds which covered the window behind my bed. I was amazed at the glory of the spectacle above. The sky an inky black canvas was encrusted with thousands of twinkling stars so bright as to be surreal. My frustration with my wakefulness was instantaneously transformed into praise and awe for the privilege of viewing such unexpected splendor.

Likewise when God calls us home and we receive our resurrected bodies what a marvelous and glorious experience that will be as we leave behind forever our mortality. The perishable will be raised as imperishable; that which was sown in dishonor will be raised in glory, weakness will be exchanged for power; the natural for the spiritual and each one of us will differ in splendor from the other just as do the stars.

What a magnificent and utterly beautiful picture this paints for us and how so like God to save the best for last. For just as the guests at the wedding feast where Jesus did his first miracle of changing the water into wine, the best yet to be tasted at that gathering, so also will it be when we sample our first taste of heaven and all that eternity has to offer.

Prayer: Father God and Loving Lord thank you for the beauty of creation. Thank you for the beauty of the bodies you have blessed us with as we reside upon this earth. And we especially praise and thank you for that which is yet to come! In Christ’s name we pray. Amen.

Lynne Phipps Atlin, B.C.