The Twelve Days of Christmas rolls on to our sixth day and prompts great questions. Who are we?  Why do we exist?  Where did the world and all matter, space, and time come from?  These questions have caused a lot of wonder, curiosity, research, and even stress and discouragement for human beings throughout the years.

The song lyrics chime:

On the sixth day of Christmas my true love gave to me 6 Geese A-laying

This line represents the the six days of creation. The days of creation call to mind what we do with the work week.

In the beginning God created the world and everything we see in the universe out of what you couldn’t see, out of nothing.

During the six days of creation, God created the following:

Day 1 — light and time (Gen 1:3-5);

Day 2 — the sky and “separated” waters (Gen 1:6-8);

Day 3 — dry ground, bodies of water, and plants (Gen 1:9-13);

Day 4 — the sun, moon, stars, and planets (Gen 1:14-19);

Day 5 — fish and birds (Gen 1:20-23);

Day 6 — land animals and humans (Gen 1:24-30; 2:7,15-25).

On the seventh day God rested from his work (Genesis 2:2-3).

But why did he create the world and us in it?  The answer to that question rests simply on God’s great love for mankind.  He wanted to create beings that could be the focus of his immense love, with whom he could have a very special relationship, and who could be precious to him and him to them.

To create and give life to such special beings, he needed to create a place for them to live.  As an all-powerful God who could create everything simply by speaking it into existence, he still took great care to create a world that would be a joy and a blessing for humans to live in.

How are you going to use the six days ahead?