Speaker: Bonnie Sala | Series: Guidelines For Living | The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.  Matthew 24:29

In November of 1833, a great star shower took place that frightened thousands of men and women in the Western Hemisphere.  The stars fell like snowflakes.  Although scientists had predicted such an occurrence, frightened people thought that the end of the world was about to occur.

But the greatest shower of meteors in recorded history took place on the night of November 25, 1966.  Photographer James Young saw the shower of what he called “fireballs” from the Observatory of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.  He remembers: “It is estimated that the average person sees 4 ‘fireballs’ in their lifetime. The… [fireballs] cast heavy shadows for about 6 seconds, and the luminous train[s] lasted about 10-12 minutes. We photographed over a thousand meteors in 90 minutes.”

Have you ever wondered what the possibility is of a meteor falling on the spot where you happen to be standing or sitting at this very moment?  Or the possibility of another planet colliding with Earth?  On June 15, 1968 the asteroid Icarus, a hunk of stone a mile wide, passed close to the Earth and Mercury.  Scientists said that the gravitational tug of Earth and Mercury could have changed the asteroid’s orbit.

As one scientist writing in Scientific American put it, “A change of only a few degrees in one aspect of the orbit of Icarus would make it possible for it and the Earth to be in the same place at the same time.”

We are reminded of the words of the Apostle Peter, who wrote, “The heavens shall pass away with a great noise and the elements shall melt with fervent heat; and all the works therein shall be burned up” (2 Peter 3:10).

Scientists assure us that with the splitting of the atom, what Peter wrote has become a possibility.  The Bible declares that one day this world will grind to a stop.  And to this add the words of scientists who say that gradually our world is slowing down–something like a clock that is wound and slowly unwinds.

Should you find this difficult to believe, study some of the passages in the Bible where events were predicted years before.  Then study history to see where the foretelling of those events were accurately fulfilled and in great detail. The Book of Revelation–that is the last book in the Bible–tells us of many events that will take place at the end of our present age.  But even more than this, and so much more importantly, the Bible gives us penetrating insight into our own lives.

It tells you where you came from and where you are going.  It not only tells you something about life after death, it tells you how to live now–how to live a life that is meaningful and purposeful.  Actually, the Bible emphasizes the importance of our lives today, as well as giving us astonishing glimpses into the future.  A relationship with God, though, through His Son, touches our lives in the here and now–not simply in the unknown, uncharted future.

Jesus said, “I am come that you might have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10).  Much of what He had to say deals with our relationships with each other, our families, and our fellowmen, but Christ also emphasized the importance of our decisions in light of all eternity.  There will come a day when the stars may fall and the Earth itself shall burn with intense heat; but your soul–that immortal part of you–will be living on forever.  When you see a star streak across the heavens, remember that behind and beyond our finite existence is a loving God whom you can know through His Son, Jesus.

Resource reading:  John 3:1-21