Nature does not need words to communicate. Heaven and earth, the seas and the wind, all shout the glories of God for our benefit. The sad thing is the steady bright flow of electronic devices have blinded us to the beauty and presence of God's great and beautiful creation. From infancy our children and grandchildren have movies beamed to their seats in the car. We can be driving by a beautiful waterfall or the beauty of a mountain range and our kids are watching a cartoon or movie. We ourselves, spend more time in front of either the glow of a television or a computer than we do by a window. When we take walks or runs, we wear ear buds or headphones to hear our music and we do not hear the music that God provides through the wind and the birds and other creatures that sing their praises to God. While I stop short of condemning our practices, I do urge us to spend a little time with nature. God has allowed most of us two different opportunities to learn and be amazed by nature; the first is our childhood when the wonder of a rain drops hitting our heads and then the awesomeness of a rainbow in the sky, the second through our children. Nellie and I are in our third round of learning and appreciating nature through our grandkids and what a precious gift that is.
The psalmist today shares a word of instruction for us. He makes the comparison in the verses I omitted from posting, to share the parallel between the perfectness of creation and God's word. His urging is for us to present ourselves clean and blameless before God like creation does. The last verse of the psalm is especially inspirational; "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer." (v. 14). The best way for the words of our mouth and the meditation of our hearts to be acceptable to God, is to focus on God. Time spent reading a devotional such as this and spending time reading God's word and enjoying the beauty and majesty of God's creation help us to seek the purity around us that prepares us to share pure words and think pure thoughts before God. The distractions that we receive through our electronics may not serve that purpose, so we should seek that which is available free. Open a window, take a walk. Read and study God's word and enjoy the glory of God; it's all around us.
PRAYER: Loving God, I am the first to confess that I sometimes get distracted by things and do not enjoy creation as I should. I pray that with Your help I might enjoy what You have provided to help us focus on You and Your love. May what the psalmist prayed be my prayer as well, I want the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart and mind to be acceptable to You. You are my rock and my redeemer and I need You. I pray this in Christ Jesus' precious and powerful name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
