Sir Isaac Newton was a mathematician, physicist, and astronomer in the sixteen and seventeen hundreds.  His contributions in multiple fields of science (as well as mathematics) are astounding.  To this day, we study how objects move using Newton’s laws of motion and universal gravitation; we rely on his insights in the field of optics and color; and we still use some of his formulas to track the motion of the planets.  He famously was inspired to formulate his theory of gravity by watching an apple fall from a tree.  Some have called him the greatest genius who ever lived.

But for all that, Newton remained humble and recognized that any contributions he had made were built on the work of those before him, saying “If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.”

It was in that humility that he also was able to find great joy in discovering the truth about God’s world, describing his work in this way:

“I do not know what I may appear to the world; but to myself, I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore, and diverting myself now and then in finding a smoother pebble or prettier shell than ordinary, while the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.”

Proverbs 2:10 says that if we make our ear attentive to wisdom and incline our hearts to understanding, then “knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.”

For some of us, science is hard; for others, it comes more easily.  But with the right posture of our heart, we all can see a bit further today than we did yesterday and be filled with gratitude and joy at the wonder of it all—like a child finding beautiful shells on the seashore.

Have a wonderful day.