Every year, I embark on the journey to read through the entire Bible. This provides a wonderful opportunity for God to speak to me each and every day. Recently, as I was reading through Job and Romans, a couple passages stuck out to me.
Job 12:7-10 says, “But ask the beasts, and they will teach you; the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you; or the bushes of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you. Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind.”
In a nutshell, this passage is saying that God’s creation will teach us about God. One might ask how this takes place. It doesn’t take long to find this happening though. Simply look around you and do what Job is telling us to do, “Ask the beasts…” Look at God’s creation and ask the question, “What can this tell me about God?” When you do that, you will find your answer. God is concerned about you. His desire is for you to know Him. He wants to reveal Himself to you. Jeremiah 33:3 says, “Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.” Do it today! Call to Him!
Allow me to briefly tell you about one of God’s creation that will teach you about God: The monarch butterfly. Did you know that this beautiful little creature has a built in internal GPS for the purpose of migration? Every year, countless monarch butterflies migrate thousands of miles from the east coast of the United States to a remote place in central Mexico.
This is an awesome feat in itself, that a tiny winged creature, can fly thousands of miles. However, it becomes much more awesome when you realize that they are flying to a place they have most likely never been. They often times even return to the very same tree where their parents began the journey—sometimes their grandparents. It is obvious that these butterflies are not flying on a journey which they have flown before. They have been programmed to go to a specific place, and they have been given the tools to get there. The question some might ask, at this point, is, “If they have been programmed, does that mean there is a Programmer?” Well, let’s look at it a little further.
Scientists have studied this creature and have come to the conclusion that monarchs do, indeed, have a GPS that enables them to journey to the same place every year, where they lay their eggs and die. They use the earth’s magnetic field and the position of the sun to navigate. They can even be taken off course and will still find their way to the same mountains in Mexico.
Scientists can study this butterfly, and clearly see the inexplicable wonders that could not have come about by chance, yet they conclude that these things did come about by chance; that these creatures evolved from slime some billions of years ago. Is it not clear that God gave these little butterflies a purpose and a destiny? He also gave them the tools to fulfill this purpose and destiny. Let us pretend for a moment that animals have free will. If one of these butterflies decides to try to fly to Australia, he has that choice. He could deny everything that is clear to him, and make that journey. However, doing so will result in his destruction. He was not created for that purpose.
Likewise, God has given all of us a purpose. His desire is that all men, everywhere repent and place their trust in Jesus. Just like the monarch butterfly, He has enabled us with everything we need to fulfill this purpose and to reach the destination to which He desires we go. Through His creation, He has revealed Himself to us. Through His Word, He has shown all of us that we can come to Him through faith in His Son, Jesus. However, if we deny this calling, and choose to go our own way, it will only lead to our destruction.
Though we can draw some parallels between mankind and the animal kingdom, it is clear that we are different than any other creation of God. Other than the obvious physical differences, He has also only chosen us to give a moral GPS. He has revealed to us that which is good, and that which is evil. He has also revealed to us the consequences that come with choosing one or the other. He has stamped eternity on our hearts. He has written His Law on our hearts. He has given us all we need, in order to reveal Himself to us. It is up to us whether we will submit to Him, repent and believe, OR suppress this truth by our own unrighteousness.
Let me close with the other passage that stuck out to me from my reading plan. Romans 1:18-20 says, “18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.”
God has made what can be known about Himself plain for all to see…since the beginning. The monarch butterfly is a perfect example of this. We could look at thousands of other creatures and find things that are just as marvelous. This passage is speaking of the wrath of God that we see in the wickedness of those who deny God…who suppress the truth by their unrighteousness. If you continue reading, you can see what that looked like in Paul’s day. You will probably come to the conclusion that the things Paul saw are not too far from what we see today.
It is this simple, God has revealed Himself to all of us; through His creation, through His Word, and also through the Moral Law that He has written on all of our hearts. We know that we have lied, stolen, looked with lust (which is the same as adultery), dishonored our parents, etc. We know that we are all guilty, and fall short of the glory of God. Some of us come to terms with this and surrender to Christ, repenting and placing our faith in Him. However, so many more deny this Moral Law, and the Moral Lawgiver, and sin all the more, suppressing the truth by unrighteousness.
My prayer is that when you see the mighty hand of God at work, you will submit yourself to Him. His name is Jesus, and He desires that you would surrender everything and follow Him.
Posted by akatennant 
IF MY PEOPLE... 