If the day is bright and beautiful where you live, then sing this with me.
This is my Father’s world, and to my listening ears
All nature sings and round me rings the music of the spheres
This is my Father’s world; I rest me in the thought
Of rocks and trees, of skies and seas
His hand the wonders wrought.
Good singin’ friend. Hi, I'm Joni Eareckson Tada… thanks for singing with me. And you know what? Though our utterly rebellious planet is marred and stained by our sin, its still our Father’s world... aren’t you grateful for that? It still reflects His glorious creative touch. Evidences of God's creative genius are everywhere. Even in the produce section of your supermarket. Like just last week, when I wheeled by the produce counter in Ralph’s supermarket. Who would have thought I’d find anything there of spiritual significance, but last week, I did. My friend Judy and I were moving toward the check stand, and just as I was passing the turnips, an odd-shaped vegetable caught my eye. It was, the sign said, an opo squash. Until that moment, I had never realized anything like an opo squash even existed on the planet.
I looked up and saw a sign that read: “Exotic Produce”. And oh my goodness there was all sorts of weird and wonderful vegetables and fruit. Judy picked up an Asian pear. “God did that,” I said as she examined it. It was like no pear I had ever seen—huge, misshapen, and covered with brown speckles. “Let’s try it,” she said, tossing it into the basket on my lap. After we checked out and were in the parking lot, Judy pulled the exotic pear out of the bag. “Want to be the first?” She held it up to my mouth. It looked ugly and very odd, but I bravely bit into it. My eyes widened in surprise. It tasted sweeter than any fruit I’d ever eaten, and it honestly smelled like fragrant perfume. I could say only one thing as I went for my second bite: “O Lord taste and see that You are good! Jesus, how in the world did you think this thing up?”
It occurred to me that this was a surprise from the Lord Himself. This is His world and His creative display of genius is everywhere – even in the exotic produce section of your supermarket. And as I happily finished off the Asian pear, it occurred to me that I was doing something brand new … I was experiencing something of His that I had never experienced before! And my response: just to be amazed; just to be awestruck; just to be in wonder at what a gloriously great Creator God really is.
It’s the way God wants us to look at His world, especially in a bright sunny season like this. At the seashore or by a wheat field; tasting a summer pear or picking roses, walking by a stream or at the base of a mountain; standing in a row of corn or looking up into the Milky Way at night, God is constantly introducing us to new sights, smells, sounds, and tastes, so that we might constantly enjoy new and original and unique reasons to praise him. That’s an appropriate response to an Asian pear: praise to the Lord that is utterly original and unique.
Used by permission of
JONI AND FRIENDS
P.O. Box 3333
Agoura Hills, CA 91376
© Joni and Friends