God’s Gracious Abundance

God said, Let the land produce vegetation, seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it. Genesis 1.11 Welcome to today's encouragement from Our Daily Bread.

Our reading titled, God's Gracious Abundance, was written by Matt Lucas and read by Wes Ward. Genesis 1.1-13 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, Let there be light, and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness.

God called the light day, and the darkness he called night, and there was evening, and there was morning, the first day. And God said, Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water. So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it, and it was so. God called the vault sky, and there was evening, and there was morning, the second day. And God said, Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear, and it was so. God called the dry ground land, and the gathered waters he called seas, and God saw that it was good. Then God said, Let the land produce vegetation, seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it according to their various kinds, and it was so. The land produced vegetation, plants bearing seed according to their kinds, and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds.

And God saw that it was good, and there was evening, and there was morning, the third day. At the age of 51, Ines Mejia decided to study botany, enrolling as a college freshman. Over her 13-year career, she traveled across Central and South America, discovering 500 new species of plants.

She's not alone in her quest. Scientists discover nearly 2,000 new plants each year. In Genesis 1, God took a formless, empty, and dark earth and created a place full of abundance. On the third day, God separated the waters to create dry land and began making it hospitable for humans by having the land produce vegetation, seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit.

These were seed-bearing plants and fruit trees from which we could eat. And God didn't create just one type of fruit tree but an abundance. God isn't only the Creator, He's also creative.

He enjoys making different types of plants and animals and stars. If God cared only about giving us food, He could have made just one kind of seed-bearing plant. But God is extravagant and never does things in half measures. God's abundance isn't limited to His creation. He's also generous with His grace. As Paul said in 1 Timothy 1.14, the grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. As with God's creation, His grace is more than we need and offered with us in mind. Would you pray with me? Lord, thank You so much for Your extravagant creativity and Your abundant grace that far exceed our needs. Would You help us to see Your generosity in everything that You've made and for us to live in gratitude for the overflowing love that You pour out on us every single day? And it's in Jesus' name that we pray. Amen. As you go about your day, reflect on these questions. How is creation a demonstration of God's good and abundant grace? What stories of His grace can you share?