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John 3:21-24

BY GLEN STRICKLER

Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence (boldness) before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him.

And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. Those who keep his commands live in him, and he in them.

And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.

I recently saw a presentation on the immensity of God's creation, which completely overwhelmed my limited understanding of God's power and grandeur.

Science has hardly begun to scratch the surface of discovery and exploration of our own solar system and galaxy, much less the many other galaxies within the vast universe. Yet even within our limited research, we have seen and begun to study stars in our own galaxy that are so large their relative size is absolutely incomprehensible.

For instance, the earth, which we would consider quite a large place, would fit inside the sun about

1.3 million times. Our sun, however, is not a large star. A1, a star with likely the greatest mass yet discovered, is about 141 times the mass/weight of the sun. VY Canis Majoris, the largest star in terms of volume, found so far, is probably 1,800-2,100 times the diameter of the sun.

Psalm 8:3-4 describes my reaction perfectly. If God could put all of the elements that we have discovered in place and keep it all going, we humans should be just a "blip on the radar" at the very best.

Then when I think of the fact that we have not even scratched the surface of discovering all that exists, my mind can't come close to imagining what it would take to orchestrate it all.

I am humbled by the magnitude of the creation and I know, beyond a shadow of doubt, that just as Psalm 8 continues in verses 5-8, God not only takes notice of us, but even gives us honor, glory and great responsibility. Yet, even those verses do not go as far as 1 John 3:21-24 dares to go.

Here we are told if we follow the way God has set for us (putting our faith in God's son, Jesus Christ, and loving one another), we dwell in God and God in us.

Not only that, but "we have confidence (boldness) before God." in the presence of the Almighty - the One who created more and bigger and greater than we could possibly think or imagine. That doesn't seem remotely possible. Why would we be permitted, much less guaranteed, the right to be bold in the presence of such an awesome God?

We, who are far less than a speck of dust in the midst of a vast universe, are known, loved and told to boldly approach the throne of grace by the one who created and cares for it all.

Could we possibly continue to take it so lightly? I, for one, am truly humbled.

The Rev. Glen Strickler is pastor of Union Chapel UMC in Berkeley Springs, W. Va.