Genesis 1:20, 24 –.And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. … And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.

I moved offices this week. And I went to a picnic. I know you’re wondering two things. What connects these two events? What has Genesis to do with a picnic and an office move? Creation is the link. God’s amazing, wonderful, diverse, creation.
As I walked across the little boardwalk that links the car park to the office building where my new office is, I chanced to look to my left and saw a beautiful tiny gourd (I think some call it the Confederate Vine), orange and about an inch high, perfectly framed by the foliage around it.
As I sat on the bench at the table at the picnic site, waiting for the food to be ready, Myra called me over — “Bring the camera, you have to see this!” It was an Eastern Lubber grasshopper — a spectacular yellow and orange beauty. It was “only” two or three inches long — they can grow to four inches. “Small” or not (actually it was quite big enough for me) it was a wonderful thing to see.
These two miracles of creation started me thinking about others I have seen, and how wonderful the diversity is.
Have you counted how many species there are? How many plants, insects, animals, fish … silly question I know. Scientists have estimated a number. It’s amazing! Somewhere between seven and a half and ten million. They don’t really know. More than a million have been discovered, and about fifteen thousand are discovered every year. Did I say it was amazing?
The thing is, as well as all the richness of creation, God has given us two beautiful gifts. He has given us the ability to see, and He has given us the gift of wonder. When we put those two gifts together we can be surprised by joy, as I was at the picnic and walking across the boardwalk this week. All we have to do is look.
Some of the most beautiful passages in the Bible describe the wonders of creation. Psalm 19, Psalm 104, Chapters 38 and 39 in Job, Chapter 14 in Deuteronomy — all these and more are like guidebooks to our beautiful world.
It is said that the best things in life are free. I’m not sure that’s always true (consider the price Jesus paid for salvation) but I am sure that the gift of creation is available to us at a small price — just walk and look!