One evening, a dazzling sunset caught my eye. A tremendous cross blazed across the sky with shafts of blue, gray, and pale-yellow streaking out from its center. The colors split on each end like giant tinker toys. Behind the cross, puffy, white clouds lined up like sheep with their wool glistening bright white.
My heart expanded, and my mind exploded with God's message in the clouds. "What are You saying, Lord? I can only see what You depict in the sky.”
God, the master artisan, painted this scene in the clouds with strokes of magnificent colors to remind us of what His Son, Jesus, accomplished on the cross. God is pure and holy and cannot look at sin. When Adam and Eve disobeyed God, He put them out of the Garden of Eden. God required a sacrifice of blood to cover their sin.
But God loved us so much that He sent Jesus, the final sacrifice, to redeem us of our sins. His blood cleanses our hearts, and we become pure and holy before God. Jesus's blood bridges the gap between us and God.
What I saw as white puffs of clouds like sheep reminded me that we wander like sheep. Sheep are so busy grazing that they do not realize the flock has moved on. They stop focusing on following the shepherd and lose their way.
We, too, have wandered away from our Shepherd. We have turned to the sinful world and sought our own way. We get so busy and distracted with life that we forget to focus on why Jesus died on the cross.
Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection created a way for us to return to the Father. What a beautiful and splendid portrayal of God's message in the sunset clouds. God replicated what He offers us, a place in heaven beyond those clouds, where joy awaits us. He proclaimed His message of love for us to spend eternity rejoicing in heaven with Him.
God offers us the gift of His love. Don’t follow your way. Instead, come to the cross and follow Jesus.
(Photo courtesy of pixabay and LevaNevsky.)
Krystal Weeks loves living in her home state of North Carolina. She enjoys spending time with her daughter and grandson. She has written in newsletters and Christian newspapers about her experiences in evangelism abroad on several mission trips and in America. Locally, being a friend family to international students has led to friendships with people from all over the world. She also serves in her church ministries and missions and has taught Bible lessons and ESL. She has written articles and poetry for Refresh Magazine and Lighthouse Bible Studies. Two of her articles appear in The Power to Make a Difference.