“Sing unto the Lord with thanksgiving. . . . Who covereth the heavens with clouds, who prepareth rain for the earth, who maketh grass to grow upon the mountains” (Psalm 147:7, 8).
Charlie, Ashley, and Jared hopped into the van with their pillows and duffle bags. Finally, the weekend had arrived, and they were going to spend it with their grandma. They loved staying with her at her house in the country. It always smelled like cinnamon sticks, and her beds were so comfortable. She made chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast and baked the best blueberry pies for dessert after dinner. Saturday afternoon she’d even let Charlie, Ashley, and Jared ride horses.
But before they could get there, they had three hours to pass in the van. The first hour usually flew by as they were leaving the city. There were exciting buildings to look at and cool cars to check out. But the last couple hours of the ride weren’t so thrilling. The two-lane country road didn’t have much traffic, and the cows in the fields started to look the same after twenty minutes.
“Today sure is a beautiful day,” Dad said from the driver’s seat. All three children in the back rolled their eyes. He was always saying stuff like that. But today they didn’t care what kind of day it was. They just wanted to get to Grandma’s!
After a couple minutes of riding in silence, Ashley said, “You know what? Dad’s right! The sky is a really bright blue today, and those fluffy white clouds really stand out against that color.”
“Yeah, and I guess the grass and trees are really bright green after all that rain we got last month,” added Charlie.
All three stared out the windows of the van for a while with a new appreciation for the view. “We’ve been on this road so many times and never noticed the great view before,” said Jared. “I love those bright colors all together. They’re my favorites.”
“I just thought of something!” Charlie pointed out. “Dogs see things in black and white, so they can’t see all these colors. They’re missing out on this cool scenery. Why do you think God lets us see color? He could’ve made everything black and white.”
“That’s a good question,” replied Dad. “God created everything for His glory, so this beautiful countryside filled with bright colors is here for us to remember how wonderful God is. His creation points to His greatness.” The three children thought about that as they continued to ride through the countryside.
“Look!” exclaimed Ashley. “There’s Grandma’s driveway. I can’t believe we’re here already. The trip really flies by when you admire God’s scenery. Now I’m looking forward to the trip home. But first I have some pie to eat and horses to ride!”
God created beautiful scenery to direct glory to the Creator.
My response:
» Am I remembering the wonderful Creator, Who made the lovely scenery?
» Do I think of the bright colors around me as a gift from God?
» Do I thank Him for them?