Hot summer nights are for lying on a grassy hill watching the stars (suns) from far away places parade across the sky. The stars come in all manner of sizes. Some are so big were they positioned where our sun is we would be immersed in the hydrogen furnace. Some are so small they are called dwarfs and are about the size of our earth. This sounds like the story of the three bears, one is too big, one is too small and our sun is just right.
If our sun’s future is like other suns (and there is no reason think it would be different) its supply of hydrogen will ultimately become helium, which will fuse to ultimately form carbon 12. This will occur after it becomes a red giant expanding beyond the orbit of Venus. It will then shrink to become one of those dwarfs. During its red giant phase its heat output will incinerate everything on dear old planet Earth. But not to worry. This horrific event is a few billion years away, a few years beyond our expected life span. That is unless we take Jesus’ promise of eternal life seriously. Pondering that wonder means we will have a ringside seat somewhere in God’s universe to witness this marvel of nature.
No wonder Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 2:9, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.” There is just too much to see and learn to be lax about accepting the promise. I want to see it all.
Written by Roger Bothwell on July 6, 2003
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