I sat and read the Bible to my little girl last night for the first time. There was no real preamble of fanfare. I laid her in her crib and started to read Genesis 1. I didn’t know where else to start. She fussed a bit. Well, actually, she wept bitterly. I think she wanted to sit with me while I read, but she is a little hard on books. She likes to turn the pages with gusto and I think my gilded bible pages wouldn’t survive her exuberance. But, despite thoughts of permanently scaring my child’s psyche, I persevered. After a time she quieted and I think she was actually listening. By the end of Genesis 1, I felt I was internally quieted as well.
Anyway, I saw something in the passage I hadn’t seen before… two somethings really. One was the emphasis on darkness and light. Not simply creating day and night. But an actual separation of darkness from light. Also, there is always light “governing”, whether it’s night or day. I also noticed that God spent two days setting up the “relationship” between light and darkness (Day one and Day four). This is an encouragement to me because, frankly, what is most important in my life seem to be plagued by darkness.
The other thing I noticed was the successive adding of attributes to each living thing created on each day. The earth and sky and sea where given order but cannot reproduce after their kind. Plant life can reproduce but can’t move around. Animal life could reproduce and move, but couldn’t rule. Finally, the creation Man had all the previous creations had, but was give the ability to rule like God. That makes people special. This is an encouragement to me because, well, I don’t feel very good about myself right now… But perhaps, God thinks I am a little special… at least, more special than my cat.