Gleanings From Nature: Introduction

Why should you care about nature? 

“And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. And God saw everything that He had made and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.” (Genesis 1:29-31 ESV) You should care because it was made for YOU! It was crafted as the ideal human environment and provides you with many resources.

After spending the last four years of my life studying natural resource management I am receiving exciting new revelation of God’s use of nature in His relationship with us. I think, as Christians, we do ourselves a disservice to not actively seek divine inspiration and knowledge through critical observation of, and deliberate experiences in nature. Sure, we might look out at our “amber waves of grain and purple mountains’ majesty” and throw up a quick though about how powerful God is, but how often do we sit and look at the mountains and plains and really consider what we’re seeing? Have you thought about the power required to call forth a mountain, the artistry required to paint a sunset in a kaleidoscope of hues, the foresight to put natural processes in place, the attention to detail at the molecular level, or the purpose of creating all of this in the first place? I know I miss this all the time.

My goal in these blog posts is to explore topics such as these and look at what God Himself says about His creation. To see how we relate and what we should be looking for when we have opportunities to spend time outdoors. I hope to sharpen my perspective, as well as yours, and find new ways to get to know God more deeply. For those who’ve been joining us on Saturdays, we’ve looked a lot at who God is, who we are, and what He wants for us. I believe this is the first step in realizing what we can learn from nature. We have to understand that our primary purpose is to begin our eternal relationship with God here on Earth; we are created to fellowship with Him and to have a perfect relationship. Of course, we know this design became tainted by sin and our desire to “be God.” So, what role(s) does nature play in helping us develop this intimate relationship with our Creator? How does it foster growth? How are we to use nature?  I’ll take a look at all these questions going forward. In the meantime, remember what God said as He looked out upon the world He just made…“it was very good.”

By C Sampson