At the Center – The Presidential Prayer Team

For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. – Romans 14:17

A professor at the University of Copenhagen has declared that “the Universe is infinite, and thus has no border. … It has no center either.” Before 1610, astronomers and scientists had considered that Earth, or at minimum the Milky Way, was the center of the universe. Certainly, it was the center of what was observable to them. Then along came Galileo, an Italian physicist and astronomer, who declared the sun was the center, with planets orbiting it. He was right about our solar system, but not about the universe. Today, with information from the Hubble and James Webb telescopes, scientists from NASA and others say that Earth’s solar system is one of nearly four thousand solar systems in the Milky Way galaxy and that there are billions of other galaxies in the Universe.

At the center of all of it is Jesus Christ.^“For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:16-17).

The next time you gather with friends for an evening barbeque, and you stand outdoors marveling at a shooting star or the brilliance of the Milky Way, stop and consider where God has placed you in His universe. He cared enough for your singular soul to sacrifice Jesus so that you could forever be with Him where He is (John 17:24). As you thank Him for and ask Him to bless the food and drink He has given you, thank Him for the joy He gives as you daily walk in closer connection with Him. Remember to keep Him at the center of the personal universe of your life.

Today’s Verse: Romans 14:17

For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

All Scripture quotations and audio are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Recommended for further reading: Ephesians 1:3-14

³Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, ⁴even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love ⁵he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, ⁶to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. ⁷In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, ⁸which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight ⁹making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ ¹⁰as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

¹¹In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, ¹²so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. ¹³In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, ¹⁴who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.