Dear Faith Family, 

For although they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.  Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things, (Romans 1:21-23). 

“Get the boat out,” they said.  “Go out on the lake,” they said.  “Observe the eclipse out in the wide open,” they said.  And so, they did.  That was the great solar eclipse of 2017.  What a wonder to behold! 

Meanwhile, back on the boat, my friends anchored in for the watch party.  What they saw was beyond what the rest of us observed.  What they witnessed, one might argue, was twice what the rest of us viewed.  And what might that have been?  They watched an eclipse of the eclipse! 

The timing was impeccable.  A cloud, apparently intrigued by their gathering (and only their gathering), found its way directly over my friends!  The sun?  No, they didn’t see that.  The moon eclipsing the sun?  No, they didn’t see that either.  The cloud that covered the moon covering the sun.  Yup, they saw that! 

Fast forward to 2024.  This week delivered yet another solar eclipse.  Did my friends get out on the boat.  I’m not thinking that happened.  On Monday, the moon got between us and the sun.  Interesting. 

It got me to thinking about Romans 1.  It seems that somehow the things of this world often eclipse God.  It’s as if stuff around us blinds us to the God hidden behind the stuff.  Things become objects of affection, even worship blinding our vision to the beauty of our God. 

Here’s the problem: when the God of this world is eclipsed, the objects of this world become our focal point.  We see things without the light of our God.  Talk about an eerie, distorted look! 

So, got some stuff that needs to be removed?  (Pause.  Don’t just read on.  Think about your answer to that last question.)  Is there stuff in our lives that needs to be dethroned, destroyed, or re-distributed so that we can once again enjoy the radiance of our glorious God? 

Let’s behold Him, 
Pastor Karl