Daily Devotional

April 17, 2017

Appreciate Earth’s Natural, Quiet Beauty

Who has divided a channel for the overflowing water, or a path for the thunderbolt, to cause it to rain on a land where there is no one, a wilderness in which there is no man; to satisfy the desolate waste, and cause to spring forth the growth of tender grass? Job 38:25-27, NKJV.

He who laid the foundation of the earth, who garnished the heavens and marshaled the stars in their order, He who has clothed the earth with a living carpet, and beautified it with lovely flowers of every shade and variety, would have His children appreciate His works and delight in the simple, quiet beauty with which He has adorned their earthly home.

Christ sought to draw the attention of His disciples away from the artificial to the natural: “If God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?”

Why did not our heavenly Father carpet the earth with brown or gray? He chose the color that was most restful, the most acceptable to the senses. How it cheers the heart and refreshes the weary spirit to look upon the earth, clad in its garments of living green! Without this covering the air would be filled with dust, and the earth would appear like a desert. Every spire of grass, every opening bud and blooming flower, is a token of God’s love, and should teach us a lesson of faith and trust in Him. Christ calls our attention to their natural loveliness, and assures us that the most gorgeous array of the greatest king that ever wielded an earthly scepter was not equal to that worn by the humblest flower….

I would present before you Christ and Him crucified. Give Him your heart’s best affections. Give Him your intellect; it belongs to Him. Give Him your talents of means and of influence; they were only lent to you for improvement. Jesus laid aside His robes of royalty, stepped down from His eternal throne, clothed His divinity with humanity, and for our sakes became poor, that we through His poverty might become rich. Rich in money? in lands? in bank stock? No; that we might secure eternal riches.

There is no salvation except that which comes through Christ. He came to earth to lift up the fallen. With His human arm He encircles the race, while with His divine arm He grasps the throne of the infinite, thus connecting finite humans to the infinite God, and uniting earth to heaven. – The Review and Herald, October 27, 1885.

From Devotional: To Be Like Jesus, p. 238.

Daily Devotional

April 16, 2017

God’s Power Exercised Constantly in Nature

Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, measured heaven with a span and calculated the dust of the earth in a measure? Weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance? Isaiah 40:12, NKJV.

The psalmist says: “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.” Some may suppose that these grand things in the natural world are God. They are not God. All these wonders in the heavens are only doing the work appointed them. They are the Lord’s agencies. God is the superintendent, as well as the Creator, of all things. The divine Being is engaged in upholding the things that He has created. The same hand that holds the mountains and balances them in position guides the worlds in their mysterious march around the sun.

There is scarcely an operation of nature to which we may not find reference in the Word of God. The Word declares that “he maketh his sun to rise,” and the rain to descend. He “maketh grass to grow upon the mountains…. He giveth snow like wool: he scattereth the hoarfrost like ashes. He casteth forth his ice like morsels…. He sendeth out his word, and melteth them: he causeth his wind to blow, and the waters flow.” “He maketh lightnings for the rain; and bringeth the wind out of his treasuries.”

These words of Holy Writ say nothing of the independent laws of nature. God furnishes the matter and the properties with which to carry out His plans. He employs His agencies that vegetation may flourish. He sends the dew and the rain and the sunshine, that verdure may spring forth, and spread its carpet over the earth; that the shrubs and fruit trees may bud and blossom and bring forth.

It is not to be supposed that a law is set in motion for the seed to work itself, that the leaf appears because it must do so of itself. God has laws that He has instituted, but they are only the servants through which He effects results. It is through the immediate agency of God that every tiny seed breaks through the earth, and springs into life. Every leaf grows, every flower blooms, by the power of God. – The Review and Herald, March 17, 1904.

From Devotional: To Be Like Jesus, p. 237.

Daily Devotional

April 14, 2017

The Beauty of Nature Reveals God’s Character

I will lift up my eyes to the hills – from whence comes my help? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. Psalm 121:1, 2, NKJV.

I once had the pleasure of beholding one of Colorado’s most beautiful sunsets. The great Master Artist had hung out on the shifting canvas of the heavens, for the benefit of all, both rich and poor, one of His finest paintings. It almost seemed that the gates of heaven were ajar that we might see the beauty there was within. Oh! thought I, as one after another passed without noticing the scene, if it had been painted by human hands, how many would have been ready to fall down and worship it!

God is a lover of the beautiful. He loves beauty of character, and He would have us cultivate purity and simplicity, the quiet graces of the flowers. We are to seek for the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.

Parents, what kind of education are you giving your children? Are you teaching them to cherish that which is pure and lovely, or are you seeking to place their hands in that of the world? Are you spending time and means that they may learn the outward proprieties of life, and secure the superficial, the deceptive adornments of the world?

From their earliest childhood, open before them the great book of nature. Teach them the ministry of the flowers. Show them that if Jesus had not come to earth and died, we should have had none of the beautiful things which we now enjoy. Call their attention to the fact that the color and even the arrangement of every delicate bud and flower is an expression of the love of God to human beings, and that affection and gratitude to their heavenly Father should be awakened in their hearts for all these gifts.

Jesus, the greatest teacher the world ever knew, drew the most valuable illustrations of truth from scenes in nature. Parents, imitate His example, and use the things that delight the senses to impress important truths upon the minds of your children. Take them out in the morning, and let them hear the birds caroling forth their songs of praise. Teach them that we too should return thanks to the bountiful Giver of all for the blessings we daily receive. Teach them that it is not dress that makes the man or the woman, but that it is true goodness of heart. – The Review and Herald, October 27, 1885.

From Devotional: To Be Like Jesus, p. 235.

Daily Devotional

April 13, 2017

Well-regulated Work Aids All-around Development

For the earth which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it, and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated, receives blessing from God; but if it bears thorns and briers, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned. Hebrews 6:7, 8, NKJV.

The youth need to be taught that life means earnest work, responsibility, caretaking. They need a training that will make them practical – men and women who can cope with emergencies. They should be taught that the discipline of systematic, well-regulated labor is essential, not only as a safeguard against the vicissitudes of life, but as an aid to all-around development.

Notwithstanding all that has been said and written concerning the dignity of labor, the feeling prevails that it is degrading. Young men are anxious to become teachers, clerks, merchants, physicians, lawyers, or to occupy some other position that does not require physical toil. Young women shun housework and seek an education in other lines. These need to learn that no man or woman is degraded by honest toil. That which degrades is idleness and selfish dependence. Idleness fosters self-indulgence, and the result is a life empty and barren – a field inviting the growth of every evil….

Since both men and women have a part in homemaking, boys as well as girls should gain a knowledge of household duties…. Let the children and youth learn from the Bible how God has honored the work of the everyday toiler.

Let them read of “the sons of the prophets” (2 Kings 6:1-7), students at school, who were building a house for themselves, and for whom a miracle was wrought to save from loss the ax that was borrowed. Let them read of Jesus the carpenter, and Paul the tentmaker, who with the toil of the craftsman linked the highest ministry, human and divine. Let them read of the lad whose five loaves were used by the Savior in that wonderful miracle for the feeding of the multitude; of Dorcas the seamstress, called back from death, that she might continue to make garments for the poor; of the wise woman described in the Proverbs, who “seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands”; who “looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness” (Proverbs 31:13, 27). – Education, 215-217.

From Devotional: To Be Like Jesus, p. 234.

Daily Devotional

April 12, 2017

Cooperating With God in Work Promotes Happiness

And we labor, working with our own hands. Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure. 1 Corinthians 4:12, NKJV.

At the creation, labor was appointed as a blessing. It meant development, power, happiness. The changed condition of the earth through the curse of sin has brought a change in the conditions of labor; yet though now attended with anxiety, weariness, and pain, it is still a source of happiness and development. And it is a safeguard against temptation. Its discipline places a check on self-indulgence, and promotes industry, purity, and firmness. Thus it becomes a part of God’s great plan for our recovery from the Fall.

The youth [and others] should be led to see the true dignity of labor. Show them that God is a constant worker. All things in nature do their allotted work. Action pervades the whole creation, and in order to fulfill our mission we, too, must be active.

In our labor we are to be workers together with God. He gives us the earth and its treasures; but we must adapt them to our use and comfort. He causes the trees to grow; but we prepare the timber and build the house. He has hidden in the earth the gold and silver, the iron and coal; but it is only through toil that we can obtain them….

While God has created and constantly controls all things, He has endowed us with a power not wholly unlike His. To us has been given a degree of control over the forces of nature. As God called forth the earth in its beauty out of chaos, so we can bring order and beauty out of confusion. And though all things are now marred with evil, yet in our completed work we feel a joy akin to His when, looking on the fair earth, He pronounced it “very good.”

As a rule, the exercise most beneficial to the youth will be found in useful employment. The little children find both diversion and development in play; and their sports should be such as to promote not only physical, but mental and spiritual growth. As they gain strength and intelligence, the best recreation will be found in some line of effort that is useful. That which trains the hand to helpfulness, and teaches the young to bear their share of life’s burdens, is most effective in promoting the growth of mind and character. – Education, 214, 215.

From Devotional: To Be Like Jesus, p. 233.