It dawned on me this morning how awesome the sun is! It’s so good to feel the sun’s warmth on my face, especially during those cold dark dank days of winter. It’s as if the sun is lovingly kissing me. Every problem seems solvable and a smile returns to my face. Many songs have been written about how the sun touches our soul.
In Psalm 2, King David tells us to “kiss the Son,” which is understood to be a prophetic reference to Jesus (Psalm 2:12). The Bible teaches that the physical world bears witness to its Maker (Romans 1:20); in that way, the sun can be viewed as a symbol of God. The sun is too bright to look at directly, which reminds us of just how powerful God is. “The heavens declare the glory of God” (Psalm 19:1). Imagine us without the sun; there would only be darkness and void!
Sunlight is something we take for granted, but it is truly mind-boggling when you take the time to learn more about our life-giving star. It’s not the biggest star, though it seems so huge to us. In fact, 1.3 million earths would fit inside the sun. The biggest known star is UY Scuti, with a radius 1,708 times larger than that of our sun. Thank God that our sun is just the right size. Our distance from the sun is perfect, putting us in a zone where everything is right—not too hot or too cold—playfully dubbed the “Goldilocks zone.”
We marvel at the power of Niagara Falls, but we are gobsmacked at the power of the sun. The tremendous heat of 15 million degrees Celsius at its core, and the pressure from a force of gravity that is 28 times stronger than earth’s, cause nuclear fusion to occur at its core continuously.
I could go on till the crack of dawn expounding the sun’s wonders, but I think you get the idea.
So, the next time the sun shines down on you, blow it a kiss, or better yet, kiss Jesus, “the sun of righteousness” (Malachi 4:2), in gratitude and affection for being the light of the world! “Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life’” (John 8:12).