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Teaching from Nature
While the Bible should hold the first place in the education of
children and youth, the book of nature is next in importance. God’s
created works testify to His love and power. He has called the world
into being, with all that it contains. God is a lover of the beautiful;
and in the world which He has fitted up for us He has not only
given us everything necessary for our comfort, but He has filled the
heavens and the earth with beauty. We see His love and care in the
rich fields of autumn, and His smile in the glad sunshine. His hand
has made the castle-like rocks and the towering mountains. The
lofty trees grow at His command; He has spread earth’s green velvet
carpet and dotted it with shrubs and flowers.
Why has He clothed the earth and trees with living green, instead
of with dark, somber brown? Is it not that they may be more pleasing
to the eye? And shall not our hearts be filled with gratitude as we
read the evidences of His wisdom and love in the wonders of His
creation?
The same creative energy that brought the world into existence is
still exerted in upholding the universe and continuing the operations
of nature. The hand of God guides the planets in their orderly march
through the heavens. It is not because of inherent power that year
by year the earth continues her motion round the sun and produces
her bounties. The word of God controls the elements. He covers
the heavens with clouds and prepares rain for the earth. He makes
the valleys fruitful and “grass to grow upon the mountains;”
Psalm
147:8
. It is through His power that vegetation flourishes, that the
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leaves appear and the flowers bloom.
The whole natural world is designed to be an interpreter of the
things of God. To Adam and Eve in their Eden home, nature was full
of the knowledge of God, teeming with divine instruction. To their
attentive ears it was vocal with the voice of wisdom. Wisdom spoke
to the eye and was received into the heart, for they communed with
God in His created works. As soon as the holy pair transgressed the
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