Whether you are a golfer, runner, fisherman, or just enjoy getting outside, you may realize that Tuesday was a great day.  With the onset of summer, Tuesday was the longest amount of daylight we will receive for 2011.

My very favorite time to be outside is the late hours of daylight in the summer; second place belongs to early morning sunrises.  Tuesday was the pinnacle for both.  I ran in the morning, and rode my bike in the evening. It was a great day.

Yet even in the midst of a great day of light, I find myself every year a bit melancholy.  From now until December, every day is a bit darker than the one before.

It seems like every summer solstice, I have a great day of activity, only to wake up the next day with a little despair that we’re headed toward darkness.

Do you ever find yourself frustrated that the great moments of life are all too easily gone? That the successes of this world are just too temporary?  Do you ever feel like the days filled with light are waning and increasing darkness is all that’s ahead?

The Bible teaches us that even our greatest achievements are only passing wisps of air, that no matter what we have to enjoy, all will soon be gone. That before we know it, the light in our eyes will be gone and we will be buried and forgotten.

But it also teaches us that there is a permanent Light.

He was up before dawn today…the longest day of the year.  He will be up when all the lights of the world are long extinguished.  You cannot flee His presence.  He is in the dawn.  He is in the darkness.  He was in the beginning, and will be in the end.  For He is the One Permanent Light.

So spend a moment today and ponder this question:  Are you basking in a permanent light or a temporary light?

I find that it is all too easy for me to wander toward the temporary lights of worldly success, health, possessions.  God reminded me this week that all of these wax and wane like the daylight of earth, and all of them come to a quicker close than I would like to think.

But He also reminded me that He has a light that burns on even after the shadows of this world have lengthened, and our busy lives are hushed.  He reminded me of the coming Day of Joy where there is no need for a sun by day or a moon by night.  And he reminded me to spend my brief time on earth drawing closer and closer to that light named Jesus.

May He remind you and comfort you as well.