In his 1789 speech opening a parliamentary debate about slavery, famous English statesman William Wilberforce described the misery of African slaves taken in transit to the Americas. He revealed the horrifying statistics that 4 percent of slaves met their end before sailing, 12 percent perished during their voyage and another 33 percent died very soon after arrival. This man, whose tireless efforts almost single-handedly brought about the legislation to end slavery in Great Britain, told his audience, “You can look the other way, but you can never say again that you did not know.”

I remember witnessing a baffling phenomenon when I was a teen in the mid-1970s. An enterprising California advertising man marketed and sold what he called “the perfect pet”—the Pet Rock. Packaged in a small cardboard carton perforated with breathing holes, an ordinary rock was nestled in straw. Each came with a “birth certificate” for the rock—and a training manual, The Care and Training of Your Pet Rock, containing instructions for teaching the rock to “stay” or “roll over” or “play dead.”

Are you alert to the signs of the times, or are you among the billions remaining asleep?

Are your dreams just idle fantasies, or are they giving you hope for the very real future God has promised?

The more you know about the creation, the more you will see the hand of the Creator, and come to know the God of the Bible more closely.