Loving Life

God gave us the wonders of nature to inspire us, to awaken in us that deep sense of knowing empirically that something greater than what we know, exists. Sometimes in the busy-ness of life we get so caught up in things like whats in our pantry, what food we should or should not be eating, what kind of clothes to wear or not to wear and on an on, and frankly, those are not the things that improve our faith, build a relationship with God. When so caught up on the details of little things, we forget to look outside and see the delicacy of insect wings, or the way leaves have veins like our hands, or the way the clouds inspire our imagination. We don't have to live in the country to discover these things. Most city streets have trees and insects seem to be everywhere, and the sky is always above us.

I think it was not by chance that God started man off in a garden, rather than in a busy metropolis which He could have done just as easily. These verses so plainly reveal that God can be understood by what He has made. You just don't find to the same depth without looking at His handiwork.

Romans 1:19 "since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse."

I think that gratitude flows a bit easier when you just look outside with eyes wide open, with that same childlike wonder we love to watch in children. Children, the very ones Christ told us to be like, seem to naturally want to be outdoors and play, to explore, that is until we found out we could plug them in and make them couch potatoes which makes less work for the parents but seems to destroy optimism and a natural hunger for vitality.

Your relationships with others seems to grow when you fill your life with gratitude for the world around you. When you fill up with things like breathing in fresh air and letting the sun nourish you, you feel better, and you can appreciate a more vibrant life, which in turn allows you to value life and love and the very breath you take.

Step out side some and look deeply at the handiwork of God and you will begin to love life more and more each day.