by Harriet E. Michael
God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. Genesis 1:16a (NIV)
“I believe in Christianity as I believe the sun has risen; not only because I see it, but because by it, I see everything else.”
These words were penned by the great Christian writer, C. S. Lewis. The first time I read them, I fell in love with them. They contain so much that resonates within my heart. Lewis doesn’t just mention my precious Christian faith, he also offers keen insight into how important that faith is to him and should be to all Christ-followers. It is by faith we see all things. It frames our thinking and our worldview.
I must admit, I also love to his reference to the sun in his quote, not just because it so clearly pictures what he was trying to convey, but because … well … I absolutely love the sun and the light it gives. Days filled with sunshine always make me feel chipper and happy.
I was a child of Africa. I was born there and spent the first ten years of my life there. The sun hangs large and bright in the skies in Africa. I spent days that seemed endless to me playing outside in weather that felt more like our summers in America than any of the other three seasons. I remember a particular type of sunshine there, which for lack of better words, I will call speckled sunshine. It danced through the swaying leaves of the trees under which my friends and I played and made speckled patterns on the ground around our tea parties and baby doll picnics.
But not all my play was tea parties and baby dolls. I was more of a tomboy, actually, and spent about as much time playing with boys as I did girls. My brother and his friends sometimes let me play with them. They would pretend to be fighting battles and make me the spy who hid under a banana bush keeping a lookout for the enemy. And I had a close male friend with whom I played in the mud, climbed trees and caught lizards. But all of it was under that delicious African speckled sunlight.
I love sunshine in any form—streaking through a stained-glass window at church, peeping beneath my window shades in the morning, pouring over my shoulder as I enjoy a walk or a day spent gardening in the warmer temperatures, and of course, all the speckled sunshine I so fondly remember from my childhood.
Without the sun, life on earth would die out quickly. God told Noah, “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease” (Genesis 8:22 NASB). But Revelation 22:5 tells us that someday, in the new earth, there will not be a sun or a moon. We won’t need it because God Himself will illuminate the world.
Until then, I thank Him for hanging the beautiful sun in the sky and welcome it every time I see it.
This article is brought to you by the Advanced Writers and Speakers Association (AWSA).
About the author: Harriet E. Michael is an award-winning and widely published author and freelance writer. She has authored or co-authored ten books, with three more under contract for release in 2024 and ’25. She has penned hundreds of articles and devotions that have been published in various publications. Harriet’s new release, Wonder and Worship: 65 Days of Devotion, will help you meditate on the Word of God. Not only will you leave inspired, but you will also grow in your knowledge of Scripture. The worship sections each week support and enhance the nuggets of wisdom as well.
Join the conversation: What is your favorite part of creation?
Arise DAILY Devos 