The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard (Psa 19:1-3).

       What is the purpose of those flickering points of light shining out of the inky blackness in the night sky? 

       For some, they may only be a distraction as they rush inside to crouch before a glowing screen. The attention span they hold is too short to reach the stars. To them, they’re only unchanging white dots on a motionless black veil. After all, the stars are there every night, right? And when something is repeatedly and endlessly presented before us, we tend to become uninterested and unmoved by it.

       Others see more because their sense of wonder is never satisfied. They have the intrinsic ability to soak in the reality of what they are observing. Things in nature are always more alive and realistic to them because they hold an acute awareness of what is before them. All this culminates into a crescendo when they gaze upward into the expansive dome of the heavens. They are lost in wonder and awe and are left feeling like a speck of dust lost in the middle of nowhere, yet surrounded by everything at once.

       An astronomer with a fertile, imaginative mind will not see just white dots, nor will he simply see stars, but will be acutely aware of all the mysterious celestial objects that fill the glistening night like the superstar quasars, bizarre magnetars, pulsating pulsars, magnificent meteors, and boisterous black holes that seize unsuspecting stars. These are all scattered through gargantuan galaxies that spout spontaneous supernovas and host hordes of parading planets that orbit the shimmering stars. This entire cosmic realm is inundated with intense radiation in the form of gamma rays, x-rays, and ultraviolet rays that erode dust veils, light up gas clouds, and shape nebulae. Sometimes, this astronomer sees so many components that he misses the whole. So absorbed is he in the deeper specifics of the cosmos that he looks beyond and misses the allure of the simple beauty at the surface of this stellar dome.

       Some miss the very point of the heavenly host reflecting the glory of their Creator, a Being much greater than the shining lights. They consider the stars to be an end in themselves and imagine that their influence reaches all the way across the empty void of space and controls their own lives. As the signs of the zodiac circle overhead, these astrologers pore over their futile horoscopes in hopes of finding their fortune or fate locked up in the secrets of the stars.

       Still others look to the skies with fear and suspicion for signs of cataclysmic events.  Only 10 years ago, some people believed the sun and Milky Way center would come together and form a “galactic alignment.” This was supposed to coincide with December 21, 2012, which was the end date of the Mayan calendar. It is unfortunate that these misinformed people had been hoodwinked by the doomsday prophets into believing that an apocalypse was coming to change the Earth as we know it on that date. But this type of alignment actually has no effect on Earth. In fact, the Mayan calendar was slightly off, and the alignment had already occurred sometime in 1998. What happened? Nothing. As the Bible says, seedtime and harvest and day and night continue as this planet awaits the return of its Maker. 

       So, what purpose is served by those flickering lights? It depends on whom you ask. The One who made them gives the correct answer; He revealed to us they were made for His pleasure. What He takes pleasure in, He wants us to delight in as well! They were also made for our profit as they mark times and seasons. It is clear that the Earth was not made for the universe, but the universe for the Earth. 

       To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth (Isa 40:25-26).

Montezuma, GA