Notes of Faith June 27, 2026
The Great Outdoors: Nature Is for Enjoyment
Ps 104:24-27
24 How many are your works, O Lord!In wisdom you made them all;the earth is full of your creatures. 25 There is the sea, vast and spacious, teeming with creatures beyond number — living things both large and small. 26 There the ships go to and fro, and the leviathan, which you formed to frolic there. 27 These all look to you to give them their food at the proper time.
National Geographic had a story with this title: “Letting Kids Run Wild Outside is Surprisingly Good for their Brains.” Harvard Medical School published a report entitled, “Six Reasons Children Need to Play Outside.” The Washington Post wrote on the same subject: “How Time in Nature Builds Happier, Healthier, and More Social Children.”
Many children spend too much time sitting on couches, looking at screens, and playing video games. How they need to be outside more, under God’s sky, climbing His trees, running across His grass, blowing the tufts off His dandelions!
But wait! It’s not just children that need more time outdoors. It’s you and me too! God has given us two sources of revealed truth—His Written Word and His world of nature. We can learn much about Him by looking at His manifold works, crafted with omniscient wisdom. The whole earth is full of His glory!
This summer spend more time outdoors—and if you have kids, take them along!
One of the central teachings of Scripture is that the natural world is not at all natural. It is the creation of a supernatural God. What we routinely call “nature” is in fact (HIS) “creation.”
T. M. Moore
What we see, experience and I hope for most of you, enjoy, is a fallen creation. We can only imagine what it may have been like before sin entered the world and the curse of God upon the world because of man’s sin. It is beautiful still, no? I love being outside, preferring the beauty of tall trees and crystal clear lakes and streams, the sounds of birds and water flowing through it’s courses. God is preparing a place for us that is without sin and the curse that followed. Perhaps it is much like the Garden of Eden where He walked with Adam in the cool of the day. Maybe even better… But it was good and perfect…without sin. I am thankful that God still lets us see and experience His glory of creation. Get up early and watch the sunrise. Yes, I do know that the sun does not really rise. Watch the sun go down and enjoy the artistry of God’s painting. Maybe you can thrill as I do to the dark clouds that carry His thunder and lightening and flooding downpours. The creation of God is absolutely amazing! Get out and enjoy it every day…and give thanks!
Pastor Dale