Scripture Sunday: In The Beginning...We Were Called to Be Light in a World of Darkness!

After doing a little thinking, I've decided that on Sundays I'm going to strive to make my posts about something I've recently read &/or learned from my Bible reading....thus, I'm deeming Sunday "SCRIPTURE SUNDAY."  (I have ideas for the other days of the week, too, but I'll share those some other time.)   While the perfectionist inside of me is wishing I would have started this blog the first week of January (when I started reading the Bible chronologically) so that the scripture(s) I share line up with what I read that week, I keep reminding myself that this year I'm aiming for PROGRESS, not PERFECTION.  (For those of you who read my "perfectionism" post a week or so ago, you know where I'm coming from.)  So today I'm sharing a little about what I read back at the first of the year.....I think it's quite fitting that at the beginning of the New Year, a time for fresh starts and new beginnings, I read about THE BEGINNING.

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (Gen. 1:1 NIV).  I also like how another version words it: "First this: God created the Heavens & Earth - all you see, all you don't see" (The Message).

Genesis 1 & 2 go on to talk about the creation of the world & the beginning of mankind, but I didn't just learn about those very important things......God showed me several other "hidden" lessons in those scriptures!  I chose one to share with you today:

When God was creating the world, the very first thing He created was LIGHT (Gen. 1:3).  That got me to thinking....what is the importance of light?  Why did it have to be created first?  When I really stopped to think about it, what good would the rest of the creation have been if there was no light?  It would have been pointless (& hopeless). 

Hmmm....that reminds me of something else.  Later in scripture, Jesus is called the "LIGHT of the world."  Without Jesus, our Light, life is pointless & hopeless!  Interestingly, God also calls us to be a light to those around us.....in other words, we are called to bring hope to this world!  Yes, I got all that from 6 little words: "God said, 'Let there be light...'".

It's amazing what you can learn when you really stop & listen to God!