September 24th
See
9You visit the earth and water it; you greatly enrich it; the river of God is full of water; you provide their grain, for so you have prepared it.
10You water its furrows abundantly, settling its ridges, softening it with showers, and blessing its growth. 11You crown the year with your bounty; your wagon tracks overflow with abundance. 12The pastures of the wilderness overflow, the hills gird themselves with joy, 13the meadows clothe themselves with flocks, the valleys deck themselves with grain, they shout and sing together for joy.
The Psalmist makes clear that our God is the God of Plenty—the God of bounty. Derek Kinder – one of my favorite Bible commentators because of his ability to write with restrained clarity and economy of words says…
“It would be hard to surpass this evocative description of the fertile earth, observed with loving exactness at one moment and poetic freedom at the next, culminating in the fantasy of hills and fields putting on their finest clothes and making merry together.2”
Creation is a living picture of God’s fullness that overflows into bounty. Let me remind you of Jesus’ words in a previous devotion. Speaking of birds, he said…
They don’t plant, harvest, or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them.
That means God’s bounty is experienced in their present moment of need. The One who cares for them, who meets their need in the present moment, so they need not put any up for tomorrow.
Is this not the lesson of the “manna in the wilderness?” God instructed them to go out each morning and collect enough for just that day. No need to hoard or store it up. Just keep coming to see his provision each morning.
Let’s not let this day pass without catching a glimpse of God’s bounty in creation. Whether it is just a walk to the mailbox, a commute to work, or just stepping outside to take the trash out, OPEN YOUR EYES to see what God has done and is doing for his creation and his creatures.
Scarcity is not in God’s character.
How many leaves does a tree really need? How many stars is too many? Just how many ants live in my yard?
