Sunrises and the Son

My friends would be quick to tell you that I am not a morning person.  I love to stay up late.  I get more work done at night, and I never want to go to bed.  Getting up early in the mornings is not my favorite thing.  I, am a night owl.  However, for over two years, I HAVE been getting up early.  I walk 3 miles every morning with two friends of mine and we walk at 5:00 a.m.  Yes, you read that right, 5:00 IN THE MORNING!  So five days a week my alarm goes off while it's still dark.  I brush my teeth, throw my walkin' clothes on and drive into town to meet my friends at the track.  Hey,we're doing our part to stay healthy!  In the last two years I've watched the sun rise many, many times and frankly, I have mostly taken the sunrises for granted. 

This week one of my sisters is in Florida on vacation (hi sis, hope you are having a great time!) and when I got back to my house this morning I had this text message from her:

Wow!  Their hotel room overlooks the ocean and even this night owl had to admit that sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean is a beautiful sight to behold.  So, hoping to make her feel just a little bit guilty that she is on vacation and I'm not (just kidding), I took a quick picture with my phone of what sunrise looked like at my house and sent her this:

This is looking to the east about 6:00 this morning.  My sunrise looked out over a field and turkey barns.  Not exactly scenic, huh?  The sunrise looked so much better over the ocean!!!  Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled my sister and brother-in-law are enjoying their vacation, but I must admit a big part of me was wishing I was there too!  But as the day has passed, I've been thinking. 

My first thought is that the sun she saw this morning from Florida is the same sun I saw in Miller County, Missouri.   And while the part of the earth she saw looked different than the part of the earth I saw, it's still the exact same earth.  Now this may sound like pretty basic stuff but have you ever really thought about that?  Every ray of sunlight that will hit the ground between sunrise and sunset today all come from that one big sun. 

As I drove into work this morning, heading east and facing the sun, I pondered the fact that there is only one sun, AND, there is only one Son.  When I pray, in Jesus name, I am praying thru the One and Only Son of God, the same Jesus you pray to.  The same little Baby born in Bethlehem over 2,000 years ago, Who died on the cross in Jerusalem, was buried, raised from the dead three days later (HALLELUJAH!), and ascended into heaven to sit at the right hand of His Father and He is the same Jesus who hears my every cry, my every plea.  He hasn't changed, and He never will.

So today I thank God that He created the heavens and the earth, and that He sent His Son, Jesus, that I might live.  And tomorrow morning, as I'm walking around that quarter mile track twelve times and watching the sun rise, I will remember that God made a sun, and He sent a Son for me, and for you.  Why?  Because He loved us.  That's what John 3:16 says, and I believe it.