Last night while I was mowing I watched the sun transform from hot, golden sunlight to cooler sparkling light dappling through the trees. The clouds above me went from white to yellow to pink.
Then this morning I had to leave before dawn and drive into the city. The drive took a while, and I watched the reverse: the sky went from soft purples and pinks to the brilliant, blazing sunlight of a perfect morning. At one point I was near downtown in a neighborhood with boarded-up windows, vacant buildings no one will rent, and homeless people waking up after a night on the sidewalk. One man was still sleeping, his feet inside his tipped-over shopping cart to guard his stuff. Nevertheless, even in this rough part of town, the morning sun showered everything in the most heavenly golden light. Suddenly the urban squalor looked like Pebble Beach Golf Course. That golden sunlight made everything beautiful, like it was covered in a layer of golden fairy dust.
Photographers know that the best time for outdoor photography is the last hour before sunset and first hour after sunrise. That is known as “the Golden Hour” because the light is literally golden—and it bathes everything it touches in a golden wash. Everything is more beautiful during the golden hour.
“The moon will be put to shame and the sun disgraced, because the Lord of Hosts will reign as king … and He will display His glory” Isaiah 24:23.
No matter how bright or beautiful the sunlight, it is nothing compared to the brightness of God’s glory. No matter how beautiful the sun’s golden light, it cannot compare to the beauty of the One who created the sun.
“And the [heavenly] city has no need for the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb” Revelation 21:23.
The Glory of God is not an easy concept. What does that even mean? When I think of God’s glory, I imagine the way sunshine turns everything bright and beautiful during the Golden Hour. God’s glory blazes like the sun, lighting the darkest places, covering everything (even you!) with a dazzling layer of beauty. God’s glory shines all over the world, throughout His creation, a dazzling fire that never dims, and in Heaven God’s glory will be our sunlight.
When you see brilliant, golden sunlight, let it remind you of God’s Glory.
ΑΩ
*Photo courtesy of Marshall Wales.
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