The beauty of nature captures our attention and awe. If we are still, present in the moment, we can hear nature sing her praises to the God of all Creation. Nature worships God effortlessly, naturally, and completely. The bird doesn’t think about singing. It just sings. It was created to sing, and it lives into its purpose as a singer. The ocean roars with power and purpose in obedience to the very breath of God. Its waves are carried to and from the shore as they respond to wind and gravity, the very authority of Creator God. What amazing grace!
How I wish I would respond to God as easily as nature does! For humankind, our will can get in the way of effortless worship. We know God is worthy of our praise. We believe. We have faith. We trust in Him. We love Him. Yes to all of the above! But we also have free will. We have options and choices to make. We can choose to praise God, or we can choose to watch TV. Unlike the rest of creation, people decide their course of action. If we stop and ponder it, we might realize our free will is both a blessing and a curse.
When we surrender ourselves to Christ, He begins the process of transforming our hearts. Our wants and desires begin to focus on God’s plan for our lives. We begin to “see” with spiritual eyes and respond to our Creator with new life, new hope, and new grace. That’s God’s design for us, anyway – to choose His way over our own way. But we know it’s not easy. It would be easy to be a blade of grass, created to follow the light of the sun. But we must CHOOSE to follow the Son, every moment of every day.
Is there grace given when we fall short? When we’re too busy? Make poor choices? Or just get lazy? Yes! God’s word promises: “Because of the LORD’s faithful love we do not perish, for his mercies never end. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness!” (Lamentations 3:22-23) Our Creator God, whose power holds all things together, is also loving and merciful toward His children. And every day is a new opportunity for us to choose to live into His divine purpose and calling in our lives. When we know who we are in Christ, we will want to respond to God more effortlessly, naturally, and completely!
Who are we? According to 1 Peter 2:9, we are “A chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.” We are chosen. We are royal. We are holy. We are His. Then He tells us why. So we will declare His praises for saving us! King David understood this when he penned Psalm 96:
Sing a new song to the LORD!
Sing to the LORD, all the world!
Sing to the LORD and praise him!
Proclaim every day the good news that he has saved us.
Proclaim his glory to the nations, his mighty deeds to all peoples.
The LORD is great and is to be highly praised;
Praise the LORD, all people on earth; praise his glory and might.
Be glad, earth and sky! Roar, sea, and every creature in you;
Be glad, fields, and everything in you!
We too can know who we are in Christ and live each day into His purpose for our lives. And in the same way nature sings her praises to God, we too can declare His praises, sharing our joy with others of what God has done for us!