That I May Know Him

The Voice of Nature, May 18

And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. Genesis 1:31. TMK 144.1

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. TMK 144.2

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.... TMK 144.3

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.^{23The Youth's Instructor, March 24, 1898.} TMK 144.4