Now there is a question, in the midst of all the questions of the day, to lift the soul of the Christian. Ask yourself today, then, when you encounter a shadow. A shadow of joy, a shadow of comfort, a shadow of friendship, a shadow of grace. Bask in the shadows that give relief from the heat of the world, but in the midst of that shadow, do not neglect the question to lift your eyes: How much more?
There are shadows all around us.
That’s true in a literal sense. According to my Google search, shadows are made by blocking light. Light rays travel from a source in straight lines. If a solid object gets in the way, it stops light rays from traveling through it. This results in an area of darkness appearing behind the object.
Shadows, then, are an indication of something solid – that there is something of substance in between the shadow and the sun. By looking at a shadow, you can make some rough calculations about the nature of that object. You can tell some aspects of general size, shape, and even nature. But in the end, it’s really just, well, a shadow.
And there are shadows all around it. It’s also true in a spiritual sense.
All around us we find echoes of the eternal. Take, for example, something like a rock. A rock is hard. It’s sturdy. It’s solid and lasting. Then consider a passage like this:
The Lord is my rock,
my fortress, and my deliverer,
my God, my rock where I seek refuge,
my shield and the horn of my salvation,
my stronghold (Ps. 18:2).
You might say that the psalmist wrote this while holding a rock and was reflecting on how God was like that rock. Of course, you might also say the opposite – that the Lord created the rock specifically for the purpose of giving us an example of something that is lasting and sturdy. So that we might have a shadow of what is truly real.
