Elegant Design

Welcome to today's encouragement from Our Daily Bread.

Our reading, titled Elegant Design, was written by Jennifer Benson Schult. An international research team has created a flapping winged drone that mimics the movements of a particular bird, the swift. Swifts can fly up to 90 miles per hour and are able to hover, plunge, turn quickly, and stop suddenly. The ornithopter drone, however, is still inferior to the bird. One researcher said birds have multiple sets of muscles which enable them to fly incredibly fast, fold their wings, twist, open feather slots, and save energy.

He admitted that his team's efforts were still only able to replicate about 10% of biological flight. God has given the creatures in our world all kinds of amazing abilities. Observing them and reflecting on their know-how can be a source of wisdom for us.

The ants teach us about gathering resources, rock badgers show us the value of dependable shelter, and locusts teach us their strength in numbers. The Bible tells us that God founded the world by his wisdom, and at the end of each step in the creation process, he confirmed that what he'd done was good. The same God who created birds to fly above the earth across the vault of the sky has given us the ability to combine his wisdom with our own reasoning. Today, consider how you might learn from his elegant designs in the natural world.

Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading is from Genesis chapter 1, verses 14 through 23. And God said, God made two great lights, the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good, and there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day. And God said, let the water teem with living creatures, and let the birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky. So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them and said, be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas and let the birds increase on the earth.

And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day. Please pray with me. Father, open our eyes to Your wisdom as we consider Your creation. Fill us with Your wisdom as we seek to live in Your way. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Thank you for listening today. My name is Brenna Holsquaw, and today's encouragement was provided by Our Daily Bread Ministries.