God's fireworks

Last July 4th, my wife Sarah and I went to New Albany High School football field to enjoy the nighttime fireworks. New Albany is a suburb of Columbus, created by Wexners of the Limited. We figured that the affluent town would put on a spectacular show, befitting the privileged status of the town. We had to park our car a few blocks away, because there were so many people and so many cars all out to enjoy the celebration. We walked into the field and manged to get good seats right behind the field fences. As the night deepened to the midnight, patriotic songs blasted out from the PA system of the field. Then a moment of silence was followed by the much-awaited show of fireworks. We were certainly not disappointed. A blast after another lit up the sky and decorated it with diverse patterns and colors. The show went on and on and must have lasted at least half an hour. Then the display climaxed to the final fanfare and it was as if the stars of the sky were all falling down onto the football field in celebration.

Then the thought hit me. If the independence of an earthly nation deserves such a celebration, if the affluence of a rich suburban town is able to afford such a display, how much and much more would it take to celebrate and praise the glory of God?... I had often wondered like a foolish child why God created such a vast universe, when a little planet called the Earth was all that was necessary to implant us human beings and carry out His salvation plan through His Son Jesus Christ. If the stars were made to "serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years" (Genesis 1:14), would it not have been sufficient to have perhaps just a few hundred of them? But in truth, there are billions upon billions of stars -- too many for us to even count.  Why so many? ... That night at the football field, my question changed from the homo-centric "Why so many?" to a more theo-centric "How appropriate is it to have such an endless display of God's majesty?" If New Albany deserves half an hour of fake stars falling out of the fireworks in the sky, why should God not get the eternal praise of all the real stars in the universe for ever and ever? Many, many stars, much brighter than the little star we know of as the Sun, are shining in all their brilliance, each competing to shine more brightly than the other in praise of God's glory. Their circuitry through the vastness of the universe is also creating waves of sounds to sing Hallelujah.

Indeed, LORD. YOU are worthy to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise! (Revelations 5:12)
     "The heavens declare the glory of God;
      the skies proclaim the work of His hands.
      Day after day they pour forth speech;
      night after night they display knowledge.
      There is no speech or language
      where their voice is not heard.
      Their voice goes out into all the earth,
      their words to the ends of the earth." (Psalm 19:1-4).

Lord, help me join the stars in singing Your glory and praise and honor for all the days of my life and for ever in heaven. In Jesus, Amen.