Read: Genesis 1:9-13

The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. (v. 12)

They are invisible. All too often they are just part of the background, the scenery, the landscape. Rarely do we seem to pay close attention to them. And yet we are, most of us most of the time, in the company of trees. White-barked birch and sharp-needled blue spruce, towering American sycamore and puny poison sumac, scaly-needled eastern white cedar and glossy-leaved swamp white oak. What trees share your home place—providing shade, producing flowers and nuts, serving as habitat for bats and birds and bees?

In the creation story in Genesis 1 (vv. 20 and 24) we are told that God’s speaking brings forth birds in the sky above and sea monsters in the water below, animals domestic and wild. So also in verses 11-12 God’s great “Let there be” empowers the earth to bring forth seed-bearing plants and trees of every kind. The Hebrew verb suggests a God who enables the earth to be fertile and give birth to trees. And so the earth brings forth trees of all kinds—a plethora of species about which we are still learning today.

And God saw that it was good. Trees of every kind, in all their variety and beauty. A gift from a gracious God.

Prayer:

God, Maker of heaven and earth, we thank you for the gift of trees, indeed, for all green plants, without which we could not exist.

Author: Steven Bouma-Prediger

https://woh.org/