Is it possible for our influence to outlive us?
I pray everyday that my influence on this earth would not be limited to the amount of time I spend in my physical body. I pray that my sphere of influence would spread much wider then those whom I have come into direct contact with. That’s why I pray the promise of Daniel 12:3…
“they that turn many to righteousness shall shine as the stars forever and ever”
When I first found that verse, my heart was immediately stirred. As an eight year-old kid, it was my dream to be an astronomer. Not your likely fire fighter or profession baseball player dream, but there was something about the sky, and especially the stars that captivated my young mind. And while astronomy is no longer part of my dream, I still find the workings of the universe to be fascinating.
Our universe is an immeasurably vast masterpiece made up of millions of stars, all of which shine their own light. The one we are most familiar with of course is our sun. The sun’s light travels 93 million miles from the surface of the sun to the surface of our earth in about 8 minutes. That is over 670 million miles per hour. That is the speed of light.
Now, because the sun is so close to us in comparison with other stars, we can measure our distance from it in regular miles. For all the others stars that line the night sky however, we measure our distance from them in light years. One light year, the distance that light travels in one earthly year, is about 6 trillion miles. To give you an idea, the next closest star to the earth is called Proxima Centauri, which resides about 4.24 light years away, the equivalent of nearly 26 trillion miles. And even beyond that, there are stars that sit hundreds, thousands, even millions of light years away from us.
Now I bore you will all of this science to hopefully make a point. In school, we were all taught that if the sun were to burn out, it would still give light to the earth for eight minutes while it’s final burst of light traveled to the earth’s surface. I think that is so cool, that the sun, even after it burns out, will still give light and warmth to the earth for eight more minutes. And what I think is even cooler, is that a star that is one million light years away could burn out, and it would still twinkle light in our night sky for a million years after it was gone. It’s light would still be part of the beautiful tapestry of the night sky one million years after it had burnt out. That is some powerful light.
My prayer is that my faith would shine as bright as those stars that are one million light years away. I pray that even after I have burnt out, the influence of my faith would still give light to the world, creating God’s beautiful tapestry of salvation in the human race.
Is it possible for our influence to outlive us? Absolutely! By the fruit we bear on the this earth, the spiritual ripples of our faith will spread for years to come, and if we’re lucky, maybe even light years.
-jon
I pray everyday that my influence on this earth would not be limited to the amount of time I spend in my physical body. I pray that my sphere of influence would spread much wider then those whom I have come into direct contact with. That’s why I pray the promise of Daniel 12:3…
“they that turn many to righteousness shall shine as the stars forever and ever”
When I first found that verse, my heart was immediately stirred. As an eight year-old kid, it was my dream to be an astronomer. Not your likely fire fighter or profession baseball player dream, but there was something about the sky, and especially the stars that captivated my young mind. And while astronomy is no longer part of my dream, I still find the workings of the universe to be fascinating.
Our universe is an immeasurably vast masterpiece made up of millions of stars, all of which shine their own light. The one we are most familiar with of course is our sun. The sun’s light travels 93 million miles from the surface of the sun to the surface of our earth in about 8 minutes. That is over 670 million miles per hour. That is the speed of light.
Now, because the sun is so close to us in comparison with other stars, we can measure our distance from it in regular miles. For all the others stars that line the night sky however, we measure our distance from them in light years. One light year, the distance that light travels in one earthly year, is about 6 trillion miles. To give you an idea, the next closest star to the earth is called Proxima Centauri, which resides about 4.24 light years away, the equivalent of nearly 26 trillion miles. And even beyond that, there are stars that sit hundreds, thousands, even millions of light years away from us.
Now I bore you will all of this science to hopefully make a point. In school, we were all taught that if the sun were to burn out, it would still give light to the earth for eight minutes while it’s final burst of light traveled to the earth’s surface. I think that is so cool, that the sun, even after it burns out, will still give light and warmth to the earth for eight more minutes. And what I think is even cooler, is that a star that is one million light years away could burn out, and it would still twinkle light in our night sky for a million years after it was gone. It’s light would still be part of the beautiful tapestry of the night sky one million years after it had burnt out. That is some powerful light.
My prayer is that my faith would shine as bright as those stars that are one million light years away. I pray that even after I have burnt out, the influence of my faith would still give light to the world, creating God’s beautiful tapestry of salvation in the human race.
Is it possible for our influence to outlive us? Absolutely! By the fruit we bear on the this earth, the spiritual ripples of our faith will spread for years to come, and if we’re lucky, maybe even light years.
-jon
