In the beginning, God created the Heavens and Earth. He created the seas, dry land, plants on the land, the beasts of the ocean and beasts of the earth. Then, He created man and woman. If you do not believe that, look it up, it is straight out of Genesis. Anyway, God's creation is a wonderful thing. We were made in His likeness and for His glory. How often do we take that fact for granted? How often do we not realize that the simple pleasures in life were created and placed in our lives to glorify God? Think about it. Everything you see is somehow linked the creative process of our God. Everything we hear is a product of God's wonderful creative hand. Everything we touch can somehow be traced to the Creator of the universe. If we can not understand that, we are missing a significant part of the master plan for creation.
Too often in life we coast along or fly along at warp speed and do not take time to think about creation and just sit back and enjoy creation. We are moving through life with blinders on trying to complete our own agenda without regard to others and without much regard to God and His magnificent creation. Undoubtedly, we are usually thinking of what is the next thing we need to accomplish and how can we benefit from it. Do not misunderstand me, I know that many people have an agenda to change the world for the better. I applaud people who can strictly adhere to that type of agenda. I dare say that no one is able to never deviate from a unselfish agenda and from time to time even the Billy Grahams and Mother Theresas of the world have been imperfect in what their sights are set on accomplishing. It's o.k. We are not perfect. All we can do is strive to be the best we can be and to glorify God through what we do. Oh, and by the way, one of the rewards for living that kind of life is to have His creation to enjoy here on earth.
Children understand this on a completely different level that adults understand this. Have you ever seen a child admiring the beauty of butterfly? They are enthralled by its beauty and grace. Have you ever seen a child hold a dandelion and rave about how pretty it is? As adults we want to set that child straight and tell them that a dandelion is nothing more than a weed. Chances are that child will argue that we are wrong and it is a beautiful flower and if you pick enough of them, you will have the most beautiful bouquet of flowers. You know what? That child is right.
In our family, my wife and I try to teach our children to appreciate everything life has to offer and to recognize creation for what it is - a beautiful thing accomplished by a beautiful God. The reality is that my wife is much better at this concept than I am. O.k., she rules when it comes to this concept, but I am improving. I have seen her take a wild flower half torn from its life giving stem and somewhat mangled and tell my son, Chase, how pretty it is and how proud she will be to display it for all to see. You see, here is my son's thinking as best as I can tell. He sees a flower and thinks "Hmm. That's pretty. I'll bet mom would like to have one of those pretty flowers. Mom likes flowers and I like flowers. I think I'll pick it for her!" Then, he moves in for the picking of the flower. However, he underestimates the stem strength. He pulls and pulls until finally the stem gives way but not before he has nearly destroys the plant. Finally, Chase runs to his mom with the beautiful flower he has picked. Here is the lesson in this child's action. He recognized the beauty of God's creation. He decided to enjoy the beauty of God's creation. He decide to share the beauty of God's creation. Chase's simple flower picking was actually a three part lesson. Let me review those points again. 1. He recognized the beauty of God's creation 2. He decided to enjoy the beauty of God's creation 3. He decided to share the beauty of God's creation I challenge you to do the same. We have to make a conscious decision to enjoy and share things we recognize as God's creation. A child is lucky, this is more instinctual for him or her. It comes naturally. It does not come naturally for most adults. God made us to enjoy His creation and to worship Him for His creation. We have chosen to become hardened or complacent toward the beauty around us.
One of my sons even taught my wife and I a lesson about creation with a gummy worm. For those of you who have not had any children in the last fifteen years and are unfamiliar with the gummy worm, here is what I am talking about. The gummy worm is basically sugar that has been "gummified" (I know that's not a word, but I like it anyway) and brightly colored, shaped into a worm and rolled in more sugar and then packaged in a see through bag and placed next to every check out counter in America at a precise height of three feet from the ground. At least it seems that way. This way it is seen by every child that happens to been in that store and then the madness ensues until the child is given this worm shaped, brightly colored, gummified sugary treat. My boys are no different than any other child in the world when it comes to gummy worms. They recognize the beauty of this creation (the gummy worms) and they have decided they would like to enjoy the beauty of this creation (the gummy worms) and they might even share the beauty of this creation (the gummy worms). At the risk of sounding like a push over, my wife and I realize that some battles are not worth fighting. Therefore, we occasionally give in and allow the boys to partake of this part of God's creation. After all, God created the ingredients and the man or woman who came up with the recipe and the production of these glorious treats, right?
Our middle son, Ty, was about 3 years old when he truly began to appreciate gummy worms. He loved them for their shape. He loved them for their texture. He loved them for their smell. He loved them for their colors. And most of all he loved them for their taste. One night as we were putting the boys to bed, a nugget of wisdom was being prepared to be released from the mouth of Ty. We were taking turns saying our prayers and thanking God for things that are important to us. I have to wonder what Ty was thinking as he was waiting for his turn. I think these thoughts might have been going through his mind. "Man, those gummy worms we had today were good. I can't wait to have more of them. What if we couldn't taste them…."
Then mom says, "Ty, it's your turn to pray" and here is the nugget of wisdom that followed as best as I can recall.
"Dear God, thank you for today, thank you for my family, thank you for gummy worms and thank you for tongues to taste gummy worms. Amen."
"Very good Ty," his mom replied. Ty then went on to discuss the fact that if we did not have tongues we could not taste gummy worms and that is why God gave us tongues - to taste gummy worms. That is truly a nugget of wisdom.
You see, God wants us to enjoy what we have and what He has given us to enjoy. He wants us to break everything down to a child like faith and be able to say "Thank you God" for all aspects of His creation. The gummy worms and a tongue to taste them with was at the top of Ty's agenda of things to be thankful for and the King heard his appreciation of His creation. How many times have you thanked God for the ability to taste your favorite treat? Or are we like the Israelites in the desert when they grew tired of the taste of manna day in and day out, ungrateful for what they have been given to eat. I dare say they should have been grateful for the life sustaining daily delivery of the manna God sent to them, tongues to taste it and for teeth to chew the manna (which, by the way, are glued into your head according to Ty).
Let us be thankful for creation and learn to share creation with those around us who may not always recognize it for what it is - a manifestation of God. May God give us child like faith to go through enjoying all the tastes, sights and sounds His creation has to offer. Thank you God for gummy worms and for tongues to taste them.
| D. Songer is a Director of Children's Ministry at his church, a Real Estate agent and an internet entrepreneur. His Christian Affiliates and Resources website at http://www.MyBiz4God.com has a wealth of Christian products and resources as well as opportunities for home base businesses. He is trying to make a positive impact on everyone he comes into contact through his ministry and his internet business at http://www.MyBiz4God.com |
