View
Ayear ago, I was on the road speaking at a few Christian conferences and churches in Dubai. For one of my days off, I decided to go skydiving. The major problem with this is that I’m extremely afraid of heights. However, I decided to sign up anyways and hope for the best. When the day came to jump, I was calm in front of people, but terrified inside. Who would be crazy enough to jump out of an airplane 13,000 feet in the air? We took off, and I was doing pretty good until they opened the door. Plane doors are not supposed to open in the air. This is something I had not experienced before.
Now I was looking at…
The clouds.
The sun.
The earth.
The sea.
Wow is the only way to describe this view. I have never seen the world like this before. In that moment it brought a new level of understanding to how precious life is as I looked at God’s creation. Life is a gift from Him, and what He created is so much bigger than we can truly understand.
When the Bible says God created the heavens and the earth, I believe that. Yet we live in a culture today in North America that wants to deny this truth. The odds of life existing here on earth is next to impossible without some creator’s touch. We have hundreds and hundreds of precise measurements that help sustain life here on planet earth The earth is 149.6 MILLION KILOMETRES away from the sun. The earth spins at 1668.9 KILOMETRES per hour.
The earth’s atmosphere is 21 PERCENT oxygen.
The earth tilts at an angle of 23.5 DEGREES. Imagine hundreds and hundreds of configured numbers and measurements which all together equals life here on planet earth.
Now imagine if just one of those numbers changed.
150.6 KILOMETRES instead of 149.6
1768.8 KILOMETRES per hour instead of 1668.8
21.9 PERCENT oxygen instead of 20.9
24.5 DEGREES instead of 23.5
If just one of those numbers changed out of the hundreds of precise measurements, there would be no life as we know it on planet earth. How could that be an accident or a random chance? Yet, so many do not accept that God is behind everything that we see. The clouds, the sun, the earth, the water. They believe there is no plan behind this, yet they too are searching for deeper meaning because we all sense that we have been given this gift of life.
I do believe God did create everything, and thought about me…you…us before He even started putting everything together. I believe knowing you were created by God and how precise life is brings value, meaning, purpose, identity, acceptance and love into your life. Isn’t that what our culture is truly searching for?
The more I understand Christianity in connection with God’s creating hand, the more I begin to understand how valuable I truly am. I do have purpose on this planet and I am loved by the one who made it, and if it took standing on the side of an airplane to bring a deeper understanding of this truth then it was totally worth it.
Ilove this time of year. I have so many seedlings sprouting. It’s amazing. But there is no certainty that the seeds I plant will grow into anything. Trust me, there is no certainty.
Did you know that there are over 60 passages about planting seeds, sowing, or reaping? It’s true. It’s such an awesome metaphor for us.
Every time we share with our kids about Jesus – we plant a seed. Every time we pray with our kids – we plant a seed.
Every time we read Scripture with our kids – we plant a seed.
Every time we memorize Scripture with our kids – we plant a seed.
Every time we show loving forgiveness to our kids – we plant a seed. Every time we serve out of love for Jesus with our kids – we plant a seed. Every time we experience the love of Jesus with our kids – we plant a seed. I’m so thankful that the growth of these seeds doesn’t depend on my gardening skills, but rather on the good, good master Gardener. Dads and Moms, grandparents, aunts and uncles, plant seeds.
In his second letter to Timothy, Paul writes, “You have been taught the holy Scriptures from childhood [in fact, it was Timothy’s mother, Eunice, and grandmother, Lois, who taught Timothy as a child], and they have given you the wisdom to receive the salvation that comes by trusting in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:15-16 NLT) Timothy had seeds planted in childhood.
In fact, God has been reminding us to share with our kids for thousands of years. Deuteronomy 6:4-7 (NLT) says, “The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up.”
Talk about them. Repeat them to your children. Plant a seed.
Talk about Jesus. Love Jesus. Live out the message of Jesus.
Here are a couple of great little resources for your kids to get some seeds planted:
•The Rizers YouTube channel (Scripture to Music for Kids)
•The 8-Bit Bible (from our Kids and Youth Teaching)
•The Bible Project (for older kids/youth)
Republished with permission from The Meeting House.
I’m so thankful that the growth of these seeds doesn’t depend on my gardening skills, but rather on the good, good master Gardener.