Practical Lessons from Nature’s Book
37
and benevolence of God. Every leaf and flower with their varied tints,
perfuming the air, teach them that God is love. All that is good and
lovely and beautiful in this world speaks to them of the love of our
heavenly Father. The character of God they may discern in His created
works
Of God’s Perfection—As the things of nature show their appre-
ciation of the Master Worker by doing their best to beautify the earth
and to represent God’s perfection, so human beings should strive in
their sphere to represent God’s perfection, allowing Him to work out
through them His purposes of justice, mercy, and goodness
Of the Creator and the Sabbath—Who gives us the sunshine
which makes the earth bring forth and bear? and who the fruitful
showers? Who has given us the heavens above and the sun and stars
in the heavens? Who gave you your reason, and who keeps watch
over you from day to day? ... Every time we look at the world, we are
reminded of the mighty hand of God which called it into existence.
[55]
The canopy over our head, and the earth beneath covered with a carpet
of green, call to remembrance the power of God and also His loving-
kindness. He might have made the grass brown or black, but God is a
lover of the beautiful, and therefore He has given us beautiful things
upon which to look. Who could paint upon the flowers the delicate
tint with which God has clothed them? ...
We can have no better lesson book than nature. “Consider the lilies
of the field; ... they toil not, neither do they spin: and yet I say unto
you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of
these.” Let the minds of our children be carried up to God. It is for this
that He has given us the seventh day and left it as a memorial of His
created works
Obedience to Law—The same power that upholds nature is work-
ing also in man. The same great laws that guide alike the star and
the atom control human life. The laws that govern the heart’s action,
regulating the flow of the current of life to the body, are the laws of the
mighty Intelligence that has the jurisdiction of the soul. From Him all
life proceeds. Only in harmony with Him can be found its true sphere
of action. For all the objects of His creation the condition is the same—
2
The Signs of the Times, August 5, 1879
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3
Letter 47, 1903
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4
Manuscript 16,1895
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