Living for Jesus a life that is true,

striving to please Him in all that I do,

yielding allegiance, glad-hearted and free

- this is the pathway of blessing for me.

Living for Jesus who died in my place,

bearing on Calv’ry my sin and disgrace -

such love constrains me to answer His call,

   I leaned over looking into the cardboard box on our bathroom floor. Inside cheeped two newly hatched chicks basking in the light and heat of an overhanging lamp. Beside them were three unhatched eggs. My attention was on the egg with a hole pecked in it. As I watched, the tiny life inside stirred, positioning itself for the struggle ahead.

   I had never in my life seen an egg hatch before. Normally when we needed new chickens we would buy babies, but God blessed one of our hens with a "mother’s heart" and with a few "adopted" eggs became the proud mother of 9 baby chicks. These that I watched were the late ones, ones that might have died without our assistance. My brother David and little sister Rebekah had been able to watch one of the chicks hatch, and I hoped to get a chance, too. We were right in the middle of another catalog printing, and, being the only person in our family who knows how to work the publishing software didn’t give me the option of hovering over these last eggs to watch them hatch.

   Over the course of the day I periodically checked their progress - not much was happening. Finally, after work and supper it happened! Crack! The eggshell cracked partway. I smiled as it seemingly cracked on its own. A little later more of the eggshell fell away and revealed a cramped, worn-out, wet little life inside.

   This was it! I was actually seeing the "birth" of one of God’s creations! Within an hour or two the chick rolled around inside the box, learning what life was like outside its shell and how to survive.

   No, maybe it wasn’t the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen (in fact, a newly hatched chick is very ugly!), but it was an amazing experience I’ll never forget. And it is the perfect way to lead into an article on creation.

   If someone were to ask me what my favorite thing in the world was, outside of my relationship with God (and of course my family and other human beings), my answer would be nature. Animals mostly, for they have a thinking mind (or, at least most do). I’ve always loved nature, my childhood favorite was the extinct: dinosaurs. I lived and breathed dinosaurs. I could name (and probably still could) almost all of them; my favorites were the gigantic plant-eaters like apatosaurus and brachiosaurus.

   Maybe it was because the idea of something so huge and powerful as a dinosaur is something that fascinates a little child, or maybe I was a little to "boyish" for my own good. Nevertheless, dinosaurs were my "thing." My parents bought me a plastic brachiosaurus that was around fifteen inches tall and weighed about two pounds at the Denver Museum of Natural History (a dinosaur fanatic’s paradise). It became my teddy bear; I even slept with it at night!

   Why did God create all He did? Why did He give us such a diverse world in which to live? We won’t ever know the answers here on earth; man cannot fathom God’s thoughts. "How precious also are Thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand:" - Psalm 139:17-18. Praise God for all He has done!

   Have you ever stopped and contemplated the majesty of God’s creation? Has the overpowering awe of it ever taken your breath away? Do you ever look at a glorious sky or a blushing sunset and thought, My Father made that as a love letter just to me?

   Most of my life I’ve wanted to be either a writer or a scientist; the latter in fields such as botany, oceanography, marine biology, marine zoology, etc. Funny thing is, I live in Colorado, and we don’t have many oceans out here! But even though I’m not a marine biologist the study of nature is one of my passions. Maybe someday God will open another door for me, but even if He doesn’t I will still have the desire to learn all I can about God’s creations.

   I’d like to post a question to you; what is the one thing you can automatically think of that portrays the awesomeness of God in His creation to you more than anything else? That is a tough question, huh? Okay, what is my answer? I would have to say that the one thing in creation that speaks the testimony of God the loudest to me is, the night sky.

   The stars, planets, galaxies, comets, moons. Looking up at all that makes me feel so small, yet, God sent His only Son here to live, teach and then die for me! I was more important to God than any number of galaxies! If that isn’t a profound visual message of His love, I don’t know what is.

   While I’m on the subject of stars I want to share a verse I found awhile back that was incredible. "Seek Him that made the seven stars [the Pleiades] and Orion, and turns the shadow of death into the morning, and makes the day dark with night: that calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out upon the face of the earth: The Lord is His name." - Amos 5:8.

   One gift God has given to us in nature are spiritual analogies. Think of how many times you have seen a spiritual or physical lesson in nature. When we look up at the stars and see them shining brightly remember what David wrote, "O Lord our Lord, how excellent is Thy name in all the earth! who hast set Thy glory above the heavens. When I consider Thy heaven, the work of Thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which Thou hast ordained; What is man, that Thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that Thou visitest him?" - Psalm 8:1, 3-4. Stars can also be a reminder to let our light shine (Matthew 5:14-16), and no matter how insignificant we think we are, our light will be seen by the grace of God and used according to His will.

   If you’ve ever watched a colony of ants or bees hard at work you can learn the importance of hard-work, industry and wisdom. "Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest." - Proverbs 6:6-8. "The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer;" - Proverbs 30:25.

   Out of all animal creation, my favorite is the horse. Horses truly are an amazing creation, their speed, power and beauty have made them one of the most useful animals in the world. Man has used and valued horses throughout the ages. From the farmer to the king, horses have been and are used in work, transportation, and display. In Job 39:19-25 the Lord says, "Hast thou given the horse strength? Hast thou clothed his neck with thunder? Canst thou make him afraid as a grasshopper? The glory of his nostrils is terrible. He paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in his strength: he goeth on to meet the armed men. He mocketh at fear, and is not affrighted; neither turneth he back from the sword. The quiver rattleth against him, the glittering spear and the shield. He swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage: neither believeth he that it is the sound of the trumpet. He saith among the trumpets, Ha, ha; and he smelleth the battle afar off, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting." I think our Father enjoyed creating the horse, and when He finished, He called it good. The horse is prevalent in the Word from Genesis to Revelation. Even Jesus is described as returning in the end on a white horse (Revelation 19:11).

   Trees can also teach us lessons in our walk with God. If we plant a fruit tree and it doesn’t bear fruit or it bears bad fruit we cut it down and burn it. And if it does bear fruit we prune it back so that it will bear more and better fruit. "I am the true vine, and My Father is the husbandman. Every branch in Me that beareth not fruit He taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, He purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in Me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in Me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is My Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be My disciples." - John 15:1-8. God wants us to bear good fruit (Galatians 5:22-23), too, and if we don’t He will cut us down just like we do with a tree, unless we repent and turn back to Him (Luke 13:6-9).

   Isaiah wrote, "Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of His understanding. He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and no be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." - Isaiah 40:28-31. We, as human beings, are not like the Energizer Bunny who can keep going and going; we are frail and we cannot hold out against the enemy for long without God. If we go about our lives at a furious pace, ignoring our need for God we are soon overcome. God, our Creator, wants us to depend on Him for everything, even the ability to make it through the day. If we trust in Him, He will give us the strength we need, and we will be like an eagle who flies high above the earth, sailing along without having to use much of its own strength because the currents of the wind keep it aloft. All the eagle has to do is spread its wings. That is a great lesson for us to learn; spread out your wings and trust in God to give you the strength!

   Snow can also teach us a spiritual lesson. In the winter when all is brown and dead it is like us in our sins, but, then the storms come and the snow falls and all is white - our sins are washed away, covered by the grace and forgiveness of God. "Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." - Isaiah 1:18

   Do you know what creation is the ultimate? Stand up and walk to a mirror - you are! We are created "in His image" and the miracle of life is the ultimate in creation. In all creation we are unique. "For in Him we live, and move, and have our being;" - Acts 17:28a. Not only are we "alive" but we can think, make choices, learn, feel, remember and we will live beyond this earth eternally: it is our choice whether we will spend it with the One who created us or with a lying imposter. Out of all creation we have this choice, and that is an awesome gift.

   David wrote a beautiful psalm about God’s presence in our lives; how no matter where we are or where we go God is there. How true! The highlight of Psalm 139 starts in verse 13, "For You have possessed my reins: You have covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are Your works; and that my soul know right well. My substance was not hid from You, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in Your book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them." - Psalm 139:13-16.

   We are not the end product of evolution from monkeys or bacteria, but purposely planned and designed beings. How can people believe (and want to believe) in humankind simply evolving from bacteria, apes or monkeys having no future but death instead of being a creation of a loving God who designed us perfectly, down to our individual fingerprints and giving us the choice of eternal life?

   In this age of the world man has made astounding scientific advances; but, with great knowledge comes a great deal of self-confidence. Scientists think that God (or, to those who don’t believe in God, nature) has made mistakes and we, with all our knowledge and wisdom can improve things. We mix and hybrid plants to fit into our life-styles and schedules until they are unable to follow their Creator’s command, "Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so." - Genesis 1:11.

   We also tamper with the genes of animals, to see what makes them tick and mix them with other animals to "create" a super-animal. In the December 2002 issue of National Geographic there was an article entitled, "Dreamweavers." It was about clothing and how we are coming up with man-made synthetics that are revolutionizing clothing and textiles. What made me furious was a section about spider-silk. It is well know that spider-silk is five times stronger than steel and if enough could be harvested, like we do from silkworms, clothing and other materials could be made that would be very strong and durable. Problem is, spiders cannot be "farmed" like silkworms because they are fiercly territorial and cannibalistic, so spider farming is financially impossible. So, scientists came up with a "brilliant" idea, "Let’s put the spider’s silk protein gene (which only affects the mammary gland) into another animal." They used a goat; the protein is then taken out of their milk, processed, and spun into as much spider silk as they want. But, even though the goat looks like a goat and acts like a goat, it has been altered, it is no longer a goat such as God created.

   Aside from all the experiments in genetics there is a much more complicated issue at work: cloning. So far sheep, cattle, cats, pigs and mice have been cloned, considered by scientists as a great achievement. But, every clone has suffered serious complications and as the clones age scientists are finding out that although they may have duplicate genes and DNA they may look completely different and have dissimilar personalities. In trying to play God we discover that there are some things that our "superior intelligence" cannot fathom.

   The miracles of life are not something we should dabble into and say, "I can make this better." It is original sin; it is like Adam and Eve taking and eating the forbidden fruit because they thought God was wrong. God place in our hands the responsibility of the earth and everything in it (Genesis 1:26, 28) and we often take that responsibility and misuse it.

   No, we can’t stop cloning or the genetic experimentation, but we can pray. Pray for our country, our world, for those who have the power to change things. We can go to God and pray for His mercy on us, for His forgiveness for our world. That is what you can do.

   As we draw closer to the returning of our Lord we continue to increase our knowledge and in turn attempt to try to prove that there is no God. We explain our existence and the existence of the world around us as a freak of nature.

   By continually being impressed and awed by man’s creations we lose sight of the seemingly simple miracles around us, forgetting them in our self-pride. Take a day sometime after you read this and notice what is around you that God created. If you feel far from Him go outside and smell the roses; look up at the stars, play with a newborn animal, or hold a baby in your arms: you can’t miss God, He’s in every one.

   I found this quote once that has stuck with me, I don’t remember exactly how it goes but the just of it is: "A little of the person is always present in their work." Apply this to God. In every creation He is there; whether in a flower’s face, the frolic of a horse, thunder in a storm, a baby’s kiss, or the caress of the wind. Find something around you everyday to praise God for; you will never run out. We could spend our entire life praising God for every one of His creations and never finish! If you take time to notice you will find Him, and you’ll never be the same.