Life in the Shadows
As children we played hide and seek most evenings. You quickly learned that if you don’t want to be found you had better not hide in a bright, well-lit area. You needed to hide in the shadows of some tree, or building.
When the neighborhood kids wanted to raid someone’s watermelon patch we didn’t go during daylight, but waited until it got dark. We would hide in the shadows, sneak up, and help ourselves to a nice juicy watermelon. Looking back, it was not the noblest thing I have been a part of.
Novels and movies are filled with shadowy characters. It creates intrigue and keeps your attention. In Sherlock Holmes there is this shadowy character called Moriarty. He doesn’t even have a first name. All we know is he is a professor, a criminal, and wants to kill Sherlock Holmes.
In reading through Psalms, I came across a familiar verse. This time I stopped and thought about it. It gave me a whole new perspective on the word shadow. From baby chickens to baby geese where do they hide? Where do they stay warm? Where do they run to when in danger? When it is too hot, where do they cool off? They run to the protection of their mother’s wings. The mother will defend her chicks with her life.
What stretches over the Mercy Seat, the wings of angels. Those wings over the Mercy Seat symbolize God’s love for us.
“How priceless is your unfailing love, O God! People take refuge in the shadow of your wings.” Psalm 36:7 NIV
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