The Upper Room 25th January 2024 Devotional Message
The Upper Room 25th January 2024 Devotional, Thursday Message by Ken Claar (Idaho, USA)
TOPIC: God’s Beautiful World
TODAY’S READING
Psalm 95:1-7
The flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land. – Song of Songs 2:12 (NRSVUE)
I’ve always wished I could have some plants in my mobile home, but I never seem to have the energy or the ability to make that happen. But a few weeks ago a friend gave me a beautiful coleus plant in a small pot. The leaves were magenta, and the plant brightened the window area of my living room. Later my friend came to visit and said the plant needed to be trimmed. As he trimmed it, he handed me two of the small leaf sections he had cut off. He said that if I put them in a glass of water, they would form roots, and then I could plant them. After a week or so I looked at the glass; to my astonishment, new roots filled it! I planted them in potting soil, and now I have three beautiful coleus plants that are growing vigorously.
My experience with these plants made me think of the beauty God has placed all around us. Who can doubt God’s creation when such wonders abound! Genesis 1:12 tells of the beginning of God’s creative beauty: “And God saw that it was good.” And Jesus said, “Even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these” (Lk. 12:27).
God created the world with boundless beauty. Such beauty reminds us that God is present and will care for us all our days.
TODAY’S PRAYER
Dear Lord, help us not to neglect seeing the beauty in your creation. In the name of Jesus, the Lily of the Valley. Amen.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
God makes all things beautiful.
PRAYER FOCUS
To see the beauty of God’s creation
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The Upper Room is a daily devotional magazine published in more than 30 languages and 100 countries around the world. The daily meditations are written by readers of the magazine and others interested in sharing their faith experiences through writing—both laity and clergy, published authors and new writers. The meditations are stories of real people working to live faithfully with the Bible as their touchstone. Every day, readers of The Upper Room around the world read the same story in many different languages and pray the same prayer together.