Made New ~ God’s Love For You series

Ten years ago, I published a book called “God’s Love For You” (Millennial Mind Publishing 2010) The following is one of ten short devotionals based on the book.

The story of redemption and re-creation is written into you also..

“..Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature…” (Romans 1:20)

It’s the season for new life. Lawns are growing, the trees are full of blossom and the rose outside my back door has been showing off its shiny new leaves for a few weeks now. The leaves on this rose are very small when they first unfold, and yet are perfectly formed. Silken to the touch, like leafy sheens of satin, completely unspoiled and untainted, they look polished clean. Just days old, they have perfectly serrated edges, impeccable veins and are completely flawless. I marvel at these leaves, so perfect and tiny, so pure and fresh, and I realize that they are telling a story.

Each new, recently uncurled leaf is telling us a story of perfection. Of beauty. Of minute attention to detail and intelligent design. It is a story of redemption and re-creation. A story of new life, written into each cell and fibre by the Creator Himself, whose fingerprint can be seen on each one. Every fibre treasures silent knowledge – the promise that all things can be made new once more. That all things can be re-created. Every year the leaves appear, fresh and soft, growing and changing before becoming dry and old as their lifespan comes to an end. Yet every spring, the cycle begins again with fresh green shoots.

Romans 1:20 tells us that “.. ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities–his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.”

One of the ways God has chosen to reveal himself is through the natural world. Through everything God has made, we can see his qualities and his divine nature. His fingerprints are everywhere. On every leaf, every butterfly wing, every seashell, every grain of sand. Scottish author and minister George MacDonald, in his book Wisdom to Live By (1996 Sunrise Books) said, “All nature speaks, like the flower, messages from God, the Father of the universe.”

God is nearer than you think, longing for you to see him in and through the world he made for you. If He put intelligent design and care into each tiny leaf which is here for a season and then blown away by the autumn wind, how much more does he care about you? So much more! His fingerprints are upon you too. He intelligently designed your DNA, choosing it, creating you perfectly, beautifully and with much attention to detail. The story of redemption and re-creation is written into you also. If you have accepted Jesus as your personal Saviour, you are in a new season. A season of growth, of newness of life. Like the tiny new leaves, you too have a fresh start. He sees you as flawless, perfect, polished clean, redeemed and re-created. No matter what happened in your past, no matter how scarred or flawed or broken you may feel, there is new life for you and a new season. All things are possible with God.

Nature knows these truths. I pray that you will also.

Prayer: Father God, I am so thankful for this reminder from the natural world that all things are made new in you, and that the ‘story’ of new life is written into every one of my cells also. I am proud to bear your fingerprints Lord! Help me to honour you in this season of life as I grow, and to see myself and others as you do, polished clean, redeemed and re-created, so that I may live for your glory. In Jesus Name. Amen.

You may also enjoy my poem, The Promise, which compliments this devotional.