The 3rd Monday of May in Canada is always a holiday weekend and it usually marks the first of the weekends where summer fever strikes the population, even though the official start of that season doesn’t happen until the latter part of June.
Nonetheless, if the weather is good (and it usually is), scores of people head for the cottage, beaches, bikes and trails to soak in the best that nature has to offer us and to revel in three consecutive days off from work.
This year I took to my bike for one day and for the last day off, I decided on a good long hike through a local trail that I never visited before and it was beautiful!
The quietness of the forest with only nature’s sounds to hear was incredibly peaceful to the soul after a busy week of phone calls, emails and various work responsibilities to attend to.
When one can take the time to sit still or be still in the midst of God’s great creative masterpiece, it stirs something within our souls, since we know that we too as individuals are also a greater part of His awesome work that He has engaged throughout the universe.
David in Psalm 8 speaks to this wonderment when he says: “O’ Lord our Lord. How majestic is your name in all the earth!…when I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?†(vs. 1, 3-4).
As great and as wonderful as God‘s work is throughout the heavens, even more wonderful still is His abiding care and concern for His human creation!
There may be a trillion plus stars and even a larger number of planets in the known universe, but among the six billion or so souls that live on this planet; God in His infinite knowledge even knows the number of hairs upon each one of those heads.
There is no detail of our everyday lives that He is not aware of and in it all, His love for us remains the same from start to finish.
As summer approaches and the weather stays fine for days on end, be sure to take time for yourself and get outdoors in the day or night and take in the wonderful works of God that surround us on every side.
As you take in these sights whatever or wherever they may be, stop for a moment and let your heart fill with thanksgiving that the same God who created all things also became a part of creation through his eternal son Jesus who offered up his life for us so that our sins may be forgiven and we made heirs and co-heirs with Him within the majestic Kingdom of God.
That’s something worth acknowledging every day and to seek to share with others!
