READ: GENESIS 1:9-31; PSALM 119:73

I’ve always loved going on road trips for various reasons, one being that I get to see so much of God’s creation along the way. Traveling gives us an idea of how beautiful and large the world is. Just the United States of America alone is so big that when I road-tripped from Wisconsin to California, it took over thirty hours to get there.

The scenery we passed through on our way was amazing. The landscape changes time and time again. God made His world so beautiful. The nature that surrounds us is awesome. God created this stunning, big world that we live in, and He created us too. He made us with just as much care as the mountains out west and the deep oceans. He made us with just as much care as tall waterfalls and gorgeous sunsets. In fact, you might say He made us with even more care because He crafted us in His own image.

Nature shows us how excellent God’s work is and how much care He puts into His creations, even though they are large and many. And God loves us even more than He loves the other works He has made. How great does it feel to realize that?

Even if you aren’t able to travel far, it’s great to look at nature wherever you are and admire God’s work. He put so much care into it, and He put so much care into creating you and giving you life. • Bethany Acker

• What are some of your favorite things in nature? Have you ever been surprised by the beauty that surrounds you? How does it feel to know God made all of it and made you too?

• Colossians 1:16-17 says, “Everything was created through him [Jesus] and for him…he holds all creation together.” How might knowing that we are created through Jesus and for Jesus affect the way we view ourselves, and the rest of creation?

So God created human beings in his own image. Genesis 1:27a (NLT)