Once there were no stars, no moon, no sun - not even an EARTH.
There was not even a twinkle of light. All was dark - so dark you
could almost FEEL it, except there was nothing to FEEL either.
Because nothing was out there. All was empty space - SO empty that
there was not one thing that could bump into another thing. So
empty that not even one SOUND could be heard, not even a whisper.
Because no one was out there...except GOD. And THAT'S when it all
began - a long, LONG time ago.
The Bible tells us, "In the beginning God created the heaven and
the earth," and this is exactly how He did it.
The first sound that was ever heard was when God opened his mouth
on that first day and said, "LET THERE BE LIGHT." As soon as He
spoke those words, there was a powerfully bright flash and all the
darkness fled away into a corner. God saw how good it was. It must
have made Him VERY happy...but not happy enough. Because then He
decided to separate the light from the darkness, by calling the
light "day" and the darkness "night." And so ended the first day.
He must have known how difficult it would have been to rest if it
were bright ALL the time, so he fixed it so it would be dark just
PART of the time - at nighttime - so we could find it easier to
sleep.
**But God wasn't finished yet.**
The second day, God said, "Let there be a sky," and, oh, how
BEAUTIFUL it was! There was day and there was night, and now there
was a beautiful blue sky. And still God wasn't done. Do you know
how come? Because everywhere you looked there was nothing but
water. The day, and the night, and the sky, and the water were so
BEAUTIFUL...
**But God wanted MORE.**
So, on the third day, the Bible says God gathered the water
together in one place. He said to the oceans, "You stay here." And
you know what? They obeyed Him! And to the rivers, He said, "You
belong over there." And they listened, too. And to the lakes, "You
stay in this place." And they obeyed Him, too.
Can you imagine what would happen if they DIDN'T obey him? Why
there would be utter CHAOS! Things would be floating when we'd
least expect them to and whenever we turned our back, we could be
run over by a wave. I'm so glad they
LISTENED to God, aren't you?
And God named the dry land "earth" and the water he called "seas."
So now there was day and there was night,
**and there was a beautiful blue sky,**
**and there were oceans and rivers and lakes.**
God saw how good the third day was. It must have made Him VERY
happy...but not happy enough. Because then he made the grass and
plants and fruit trees with seeds inside them that could grow MORE
plants and fruit trees. Some plants and trees He made just to make
everything look pretty. Others he made so we would have fruits and
vegetables to eat.
Most plants grew UP - like apples and pears and corn and broccoli.
Other plants grew DOWN - like potatoes and turnips and carrots. And
some plants grew SIDEWAYS - like cucumbers and watermelons and
squash. And God was VERY pleased with all He did on that third day.
So now there was day and there was night, and there was a beautiful
blue sky, and there were oceans and rivers and lakes, and there
were grass and plants and trees.
**But STILL He wasn't finished!**
**There was yet more work to do!**
On the fourth day, God said, "Let there be lights in the sky to
separate the day from the night, and for Winter, Spring Summer, and
Fall, and for days and years." And you know what? That's exactly
what happened! Just like God said.
God made two really BIG lights. The larger one we call the "sun,"
He made to shine in the day and a smaller one we call the "moon,"
He made to shine at night. He also made the stars and put them
exactly where He wanted them. God put all these beautiful lights in
the sky to give light to the earth. The sun gives light to the
earth during the day and the moon and stars give light to the earth
during the night.
**And God saw that it was good.**
So now there was day and there was night, and there was a beautiful
blue sky, and there were oceans and rivers and lakes, and there
were grass and plants and trees, and there were the sun, moon and
stars.
Next time you see a star twinkle in the night, stop and think about
this: God put a twinkle in the dark so we would remember how very
important it is to obey Him just like the stars do.
