God's Beautiful World

Oh, come, let us sing to the Lord! Give a joyous shout in honor of the Rock of our salvation!

Come before him with thankful hearts. Let us sing him psalms of praise. For the Lord is a great God, the great King of all gods. He controls the formation of the depths of the earth and the mightiest mountains; all are his. He made the sea and formed the land; they too are his. Come, kneel before the Lord our Maker, for he is our God. We are his sheep and he is our Shepherd. Oh, that you would hear him calling you today and come to him! Psalm 95:1-7 (TLB)

The flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land. Song of Songs 2:12 (NRSVUE)

Ken Claar, from Idaho, has always wished that he could have some plants in his mobile home, but he never seem to have the energy or the ability to make that happen. But a few weeks ago a friend gave him a beautiful coleus plant in a small pot. The leaves were magenta, and the plant brightened the window area of his living room. Later his friend came to visit and said the plant needed to be trimmed. As he trimmed it, he handed Ken two of the small leaf sections he had cut off. He said that if Ken put them in a glass of water, they would form roots, and then he could plant them. After a week or so Ken looked at the glass; to his astonishment, new roots filled it! Ken planted them in potting soil, and now he has three beautiful coleus plants that are growing vigorously.

Ken's experience with these plants made him think of the beauty God has placed all around us. Who can doubt God's creation when such wonders abound! Genesis 1:12 tells of the beginning of God's creative beauty: "And God saw that it was good." And Jesus said, "Even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these" (Luke 12:37).

God created the world with boundless beauty. Such beauty reminds us that God is present and will care for us all our days.

Prayer: Dear Lord, help us not to neglect seeing the beauty in your creation, in Jesus' name, the Lily of the Valley. Amen.