Measuring

We measure lots of things. Our height. Our weight. The distance we travel. I measure the ingredients when I’m baking. I set the timer. I wear a pedometer that counts the steps I take each day. I check the clock to see how many minutes I’ve been doing something.

But there are some things that I cannot count or measure. The number of trees in a forest. The number of flowers in the world. The gallons of water in a lake. A scientist might be able to calculate these. But there are some things that even scientists cannot figure out.

Only God can count the grains of sand in a desert. Or the number of stars in the sky. Isn’t it interesting that God’s promise to Abraham was that his descendants would be as numerous as these vast expanses? Scientists can count high enough to know that there are billions of stars, but they haven’t seen them all yet. They keep discovering new ones. Sometimes I wonder if God is still creating more of them just to keep their intellects astounded.

But who can measure love? We use pictures like – as big as the sky…as deep as the ocean. But these aren’t exact or precise. We are capable of immense, strong, passionate love, but it’s not measurable. And what about God’s love? It’s unfathomable, indescribable, inexhaustible, uncalculative. I love the old song that says, “The love of God is greater far than tongue or pen can ever tell.”

And so is His amazing grace. To think that a holy God extends His love and grace to unholy, sinful, weak, wicked human beings is beyond imagination. But “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

Have you reflected on that truth lately? Have you accepted it by faith? There’s no other way to grasp it. Have you looked at the stars in the sky and reflected on the immense greatness of our God? And then wondered at His care for you? “Cast all your cares upon Him, for He cares for you,” says I Peter 5:7.

So my challenge to you today is to spend a few moments contemplating how precious and how extensive God’s gifts of love and grace are. Anybody ready for some star gazing?