Because I was a curious young boy growing up on the Montana prairies, always an early riser, I could often enjoy the radiant, colorful hours of the sun in the eastern sky long before the sun itself would appear on the horizon.

Even more interesting was seeing and hearing all of nature begin to shuffle on the farm: the rooster crowing, the cattle and sheep beginning to stir with a low bellow and a snappy bleat in the springtime as they “spoke” to their babies. Certain birds would rustle in the trees and shrubs and begin to sing as if to alert all of nature that “sunrise is on the way” for another day.

The grass was often wet with dew, waiting for the sun’s warmth to dry it. The quiet ripple of the nearby stream blessed the frogs, now awakened, only to “sqwack” again into the late evening at sunset. The deer and the antelope gathered at the water’s edge for a good drink before moving on and grazing on the adjacent pastures. And, most beautiful of all, the Chinese pheasant cockerels ambling slowly out of the shelterbelt just in time to see the brilliant, huge, round sun appear on the far horizon to give light for the newborn day. 

I hear King David from Psalm 30:1a, 5b: “I will extol You, oh Lord, for You have lifted me up ... weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.” 

In Luke 1 we read of patient, dedicated, faithful “old Zacharias” praising God as he waited for the promised Messiah, Jesus, to be born. Just as I looked eagerly for and listened intently for a sunrise on the prairies, Zacharias listened daily for a spiritual sunrise, the Son coming into full view over the eastern horizon, ushering in the day of grace for humanity to feast on and drink in freely. Quoting from Malachi 4:2: “The Dayspring (sunrise) from on high has visited us, to give light to those who sit in darkness.”

The Messiah – “Light of the world” -- came from Heaven to earth, died for our sins, and shed His blood to bathe us clean. Isaiah 1:18 reads, “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow, though they be crimson red, they shall be like wool.” 

Jesus was resurrected and ascended back to Heaven with the promise written in John 14:3: “I will come again and take you unto Myself.”

HHe has promised that He will never leave us, nor forsake us. 

Just as the writer in Psalm 34:1-3, I am determined to “bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make its boast in the Lord; And the humble shall hear of it, and be glad. Come, let us magnify the Lord, Let us exalt His name together.”