Word for Today

From Micah 5:

²But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah,

who are one of the little clans of Judah,

from you shall come forth for me

one who is to rule in Israel,

whose origin is from of old,

from ancient days.

and from Luke 1:

 ⁴⁶And Mary said,

"My soul magnifies the Lord,

Taking pictures of small things is a growing field. There are electron microscopes and x-ray lasers, invented by people with a desire to know and understand. Scientists are fueling their own curiosities by going smaller and smaller. And by reporting to the world, the world itself is becoming more curious! As you see below, patterns emerge that seem less chaotic and more beautiful. More wondrous.

I searched high and low online for photos of small things to include in this Word for Today. I found so many pictures, the problem for me is they were rather disturbing. How long can a person look the pincers of a bed bug? One of the worse was a picture of the hair follicles of a human eyebrow. A close second was the bacteria that reside on the human tongue. Not exactly appetizing. Bleh.

Scripture today talks about greatness coming from a little place. Little places, little things, small voices carry inside them all the "coding" needed to radically change the world. Little town Bethlehem is about to become a household name. For from her comes a Savior, God-With-Us, Emmanuel.

The first picture is a composite photo of proteins by Thomas White.

The next picture is a special one to me. It's Salvador Dali's painting of Christ. The first picture prompted me to think about the second one. 

The message I would like to leave you with today is that there is no place out-of-the-way enough where God's redeeming and loving presence cannot be. There is no space inside you that God's Spirit cannot fit into. In fact, there is a pattern in you that God laid out in creation which longs for one thing above all others, fellowship with God. Through Jesus, you have it.

Pastor James Aalgaard

St. Paul Lutheran Church, Ontario Oregon