Good morning, everyone.
Our verse for today comes from Acts 8:9, “Now there was a man named Simon, who formerly was practicing magic in the city and astonishing the people of Samaria, claiming to be someone great.”
Astonished. You don’t hear that word too often nowadays. You might be amazed, surprised, or impressed, but I can’t remember the last time I heard someone say they were astonished by something. And that sort of surprises me, based on the types of things that the internet claims are astonishing. For one, Walt Disney was afraid of mice. And considering the cartoon character that made him a billionaire, that’s astonishing, I guess. Another, horses cannot breathe through their mouths. I’m guessing that got quite a reaction out of some of you. Myrmecologists, who are bug people that specialize in ants, estimate that there are over 1.5 million ants per person on earth. Is it more astonishing that there are so many ants on the planet, or that there are people who specialize in studying them? Now, there are some astonishing things around us. It’s difficult to fathom that there are more atoms in a grain of sand than there are grains of sand, or that the DNA in your body laid out would stretch farther than Pluto is from the sun, or that scientists estimate that there are more stars than grains of sand. Such degrees of grandeur or scales of infinitesimal exceed our mental capacities, which are quite impressive in their own right.
But, astonished, and every way that exceeds that in expressing astonishment, is how each of us should feel when we consider our own existence and presence before the indescribable God who made us, as well as everything else he made those first six days. For we truly are astonished when we watch a skilled magician work his sleight of hand tricks and illusions. We are amazed when we discover what a spider can create overnight. We are impressed when a painter recreates an image more real than the item he painted. But our wonder should never cease when we think on the love of our Creator who sacrificed Himself to restore our relationship with Him that will last for eternity. Of all that He takes care of every second of every day, He’s most concerned with you and me and our fellowship with Him. That’s a lot of things, but it’s definitely astonishing.
As we seek Him today, be astonished by a Savior who took the full punishment of every single sin you’ll ever commit and rose from the dead to give you a new life.
Have an astonishing Tuesday.
#4 Rich Holt
Dad of Ripken, Koy, TrishaJean, Samantha, Kakie Holiday and Raleigh
Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them.
