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Color. Do we really stop to see the beauty God has provided for us, or are we too involved in our busyness to notice? I looked outside yesterday realized my lawn had become a beautiful green. (The second thing I noticed was how badly I need to mow.) What other colors had I been blinded to recently?
Just think of all the varied colors in nature-- blue sky, cardinals, pink roses, purple irises, yellow finches, green hummingbirds, sunsets of yellow, orange, pink, and purple, oranges growing on trees, tomatoes in our garden, wildflowers in white, yellow, purple, and pink. What a wonderful display of God's creativity!
When God decided to make this world, He could have colored everything black, white, and gray, like an old TV show from the 1950s. Instead, He displayed perfect artistry when He gave us this world. Our attempts to recreate His work with the seasonal decorations we arrange on our tables and mantels are just pale imitations. God is the ultimate artist, and His colorful offerings in nature are His gift to us.
But you say your favorite color is white? Black? God made those too. In Revelation 21, heaven's gates are made of pearls. The wall around the new, holy city is set on foundation stones that are inlaid with 12 layers of stones. Two of those stones are onyx (mostly black) and agate (a type of quartz that can be white). The others include sapphire, amethyst, emerald, and varying shades of green, blue, red, and orange. The names of the stones can be found in Revelation 21. Can you imagine the beauty? One day we'll be able to see these colors in all their perfection.
Besides a straight out gift from God, color can also be a form of promise. I know, it's a bit of a stretch, but stick with me. Back in the days of Noah, God saw that humans had become so evil that everything they did was an abomination in His eyes. He found only one man, Noah, who followed and remained devoted to Him. God said He was sorry He ever made people (Genesis 6:7) and He decided to send a flood to wipe them all away. But He provided for Noah and his family and two of every animal on the earth when He instructed Noah to build an ark. And after the flood had receded, God told Noah about the rainbow. When it shone in the rainy skies, God said it was His promise to Noah and to all generations after him that God would never again destroy the human race with a flood.
Oh, science will say a rainbow is nothing more than sunlight reflecting through rain drops and splitting the light into a prism of its component colors of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. But God used this particular creation to represent His promise to never flood the earth again. God painted His creation with color, and then He used color to give us this promise.
There's a whole other blog I could write on the colors of the Bible-- the purple of royalty, the white of purity, the red of Jesus' blood, the silver, and gold of the ancient world. Suffice it to say, God gave us colors to please us, colors to remind us of His promise, and colors to signify His grace and love.
So next time you're outside or looking at nature photography, open your eyes a little wider and take in all that color. God gave us that beauty, so take a moment and thank Him for every last shade and nuance of the gift He's showered upon us.
Until next time (enjoy this beautiful tree below),
Toni
