Billy Graham said, “Every day is a gift from God, no matter how old we are.” I think that’s a serious quote that we should all take note of. Isaiah 60:1 says, “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.” God wants us to rise each day full of his glory, ready to greet the new day with his love in our hearts. Just like we can count on the sun rising everyday, we can count on God’s faithfulness. The beauty of each sunrise shows us God’s greatness. As the sun’s rays spread across the sky, warming the earth as she wakes, we’re reminded of God’s light that guides us through the darkness.

My day was blessed by all the beautiful song birds visiting my feeders. I wondered if the birds were celebrating a Sunday homecoming at their church. As I sat perched in the swing, I took note of the different species — downy woodpeckers, a northern flicker (yellowhammer), a red wing black bird, three doves, titmice, chickadees, pine warblers, wrens, purple finches, sparrows, and a wood thrush. I’ve never seen a yellowhammer but a few times. Always wondered why the yellowhammer was chosen as our state bird.

“With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts.” —Eleanor Roosevelt

I watched the sun slip below the horizon late afternoon, listening as the twilight whispered words of love to the earth, bringing the stars and the moon out from their hiding places. Twilight is always a magical time, the earth glowing in a golden light, the remnants of the day’s love making with the sun’s light, silhouetting the old oaks and magnolias in jet black. Psalm 65:8 reads, “The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders; where morning dawns, where evening fades, you call forth songs of joy.”

I think of twilight as the beginning of day’s death, a slow demise to darkness leading to the beauty of the awakening dawn and glorious sunrise of another day. God has given us so many wonders in this life. He had to consciously think of how to make the day’s ending and the day’s beginning wondrous. No artist has God’s palette of watercolors. We don’t need proof of the Lord, we can see it in his handiwork.

Psalm 113:3 reads, “From the rising of the sun until the going down of the same the Lord’s name is to be praised.” The sun comes up each morning as proof of God’s creation of earth. Each sunrise is a time of hope and renewal. Doesn’t matter what happened today, tomorrow is a gift of a new day, a new beginning full of hope. “This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it,” Psalm 118:24.

Each day is a gift to be opened with prayers and thanksgiving. We should be gracious to God, thankful and happy for each day on this glorious planet Earth.

“The sun is a daily reminder that we too can rise again from the darkness, that we too can shine our own light.” — S. Mukherjee