Then God said, “Look! I have given you every seed-bearing plant throughout the earth and all the fruit trees for your food.”
(Genesis 1:29 NLT)
What’s your favorite plant?
Isn’t this supposed to be a devotional? Yes, it is. But we’ve found a bit of celebration bursting from the Bible, and we want to help you stand under the confetti. Today is a day to celebrate plants—or rather, to celebrate our Creator and his kindness for giving us the good gift of plants. Stick with us!
Plants Are Everywhere
So back to our question: What’s your favorite plant? Think hard here. Plants include flowers, houseplants, trees of all kinds—including ones that grow fruits. Plants include vines, things like cotton and flax from which we get our clothes. Christmas trees. Palm trees. Don’t forget—seed bearing plants. Anything that grows a nut—like hazelnuts or macadamia nuts. Coffee comes from plants! Mint leaves. Spices come from plants. Plants are everywhere!
All the Joy We Get from Plants
Maybe your favorite plant is the Corylus americana, which grows hazelnuts, which is your favorite flavor in coffee or chocolate. Maybe your favorite plant is the palm tree, because they line the coast of your home country, and make you feel home. Maybe your favorite plant is turmeric, because it helps ease the symptoms of your chronic illness. Maybe your favorite plant is cotton, because that’s what makes up your favorite shirt.
Why Are We Thinking About Plants?
The Bible says a lot of deep things. It teaches things that puzzle even the smartest people. But it also says simple things. It also frames our lives and experience with truth. It’s ultimately about who God is and what he has done. The Bible leads us to think on what is true, excellent, praiseworthy, and lovely (Philippians 4:8), and it points our gaze to our Creator. The single sentence in Genesis 1:29 tells us that God created plants. This simple truth from the Bible can direct our thoughts to God and his goodness and lead us to worship him for his kindness!
Behind this one verse in the Bible that essentially says, “God made plants,” lie a million reasons to give God thanks—for every time we enjoy the shade of a tree, the fruit of a strawberry vine, or the shirt made from cotton, we are enjoying a gift from God.
Plants Are a Key Part of the Bible Story
Plants aren’t just scattered everywhere in our experience, they’re also central to the Bible story.
At the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the first humans rebelled against God, and sin entered the world and darkened the human heart (Genesis 3).
But years later, on a tree, God’s Son Jesus died to save us from our sin and rebellion against God (Galatians 3:13). Jesus bore our sin on the cross and rose from the dead, that we might be reconciled to God. He offers us eternal life, and to make us right with God, if we trust in him and his sacrifice for us. (John 3:16; 1 Peter 3:18). Jesus will enjoy a feast in eternity in the New Heavens and New Earth with those who belong to him by faith. We can guess that the feast he’s preparing will include plants! And at the center of the New Earth is another tree—check out Revelation 22:2.
Trees frame the message of good news at the heart of the Bible. Plants are part of the story of the Bible and of our world that point to the love of our Creator and our Savior, Jesus.
Thank God for Plants Today
God made plants!
So, any joy you derive from a plant that you see or find shade under—or eat or drink something from—is God’s gift to you. When we receive a gift, we say thank you. Thank God for plants today!
Yes, (smile), that’s your devotional thought for today.