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The Voice of Nature, May 18
And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very
good.
Genesis 1:31
.
God does not design that we shall take no pleasure in the things of His
creation.... He watches with a Father’s joy the delight of His children in the
beautiful things around them. While on earth the Redeemer of the world
sought to make His lessons of instruction plain and simple, that all might
comprehend them; and can we be surprised that He should choose the open
air as His sanctuary, that He should desire to be surrounded by the works of
His creation? ... The things which His own hand had made He took as His
lesson book. He saw in them more than finite minds could comprehend.
The birds, caroling forth their songs without a care, the flowers of
the valley glowing in their beauty, the lily that reposed in its purity on
the bosom of the lake, the lofty trees, the cultivated land, the waving
grain, the barren soil, the tree that bore no fruit, the everlasting hills, the
bubbling stream, the setting sun tinting and gilding the heavens—all these
He employed to impress His hearers with divine truth. He connected the
work of God’s finger in the heavens and upon the earth with the Word of
life. From these He drew His lessons of spiritual instruction. He would
pluck the lilies, the flowers of the valley, and place them in the hands of
the little children, as instructors to proclaim the truth of His Word....
The beauties of nature have a tongue that speaks to us without ceasing.
The open heart can be impressed with the love and glory of God as seen
in the works of His hand. The listening ear can hear and understand the
communications of God through the things of nature. There is a lesson in
the sunbeam and in the various objects of nature that God has presented
to our view. The green fields, the lofty trees, the buds and flowers, the
passing cloud, the falling rain, the babbling brook, the sun, moon, and stars
in the heavens—all invite our attention and meditation, and bid us become
acquainted with Him who made them all
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The Youth’s Instructor, March 24, 1898.
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