I'm still reading the Peanuts cartoons, even though no newspaper has carried them since Charles Schulz died in February, 2000. I am especially still learning from … Lucy. Yes, Lucy! One strip that I just found has Lucy looking skyward and declaring in the first frame, "Poets tell us that the answers to life can be found in the stars." Then appear two more frames of stargazing, with the final frame having Lucy declare, "Stupid poets!" For once, I am with Lucy. When I survey the stars at night, I see the handiwork of God, but I turn to the Bible to find the answers to life that I seek and crave.

Astronomy is a legitimate science that Christians should be encouraged to study, since it reveals the wonder of God's created universe and makes us exclaim with the hymn writer,

O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder,
Consider all the worlds Thy hands have made;
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed.
       – How Great Thou Art, Carl Boberg, tr. Stuart Hine

On the other hand, astrology is built upon the premise that what is important in life can be found in the stars.

Isaiah 47:13 – All the counsel you have received has only worn you out! Let your astrologers come forward, those stargazers who make predictions month by month, let them save you from what is coming upon you. (NIV)

There are millions who open their newspapers or go online first thing in the morning, turn to their horoscope, and check their month and sign, to determine what kind of day is ahead, based on the alignment of the stars. Being the cynic that I sometimes purport to be, I'd ask the Dr. Phil question, "How's that working for you?" Dr. Phil is probably less cynical than I am, and he actually goes on to say, "When I ask that, I genuinely mean it. How is what you're doing working for you? Are you getting what you really want and need?" Or does it just deflect you from your real purpose? It is best said in today's verse, "All the counsel you have received has only worn you out!"

The Bible is where I turn when I am seeking the answers to life. So, what is my response to the night sky? Maybe it is actually best said in the words of Psalm 8:3-5 (NRSV), the prayer that I offer for this day:

Prayer: "When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them? Yet you have made them a little lower than God, and crowned them with glory and honour." Amen.

Forward this devotional     Share on Facebook

About the author:

Kenn Stright <kennethstright@yahoo.ca>
West Petpeswick, Nova Scotia, Canada
Send your feedback to the author