In the beginning...

I really enjoyed our small group last night. One of the guys in our group, Andrew Bolger, is leading the study right now. We are just beginning the process of looking at the Bible as a whole, as a story. Last week was Before the beginning, and last night was discussion about In the beginning. Part of our discussion focused on, or rather around, the word "good", and when it was used. It was quite interesting that "good" was not used on the second day. We talked about good's opposites... bad and evil. We concluded that good was not the opposite of evil in this case, so it could be good, as in beneficial. We then went on to talk about who was it beneficial for, and it seemed to point to man.

The way that our discussion carried us was to talk about how have we not appreciated these beneficial things, and in some cases, even harmed these "good" things. Some of the people, including myself, started thinking about all the ways we do not take care of creation, and the "list" started in my head; the list of the things I needed to change... and that is just law. So, then I asked the LORD, what??...
I immediately thought of nature study, and the thought came to me that we should take time to look at, observe, and enjoy those "good" things. That is what nature study is, and then the overflow (as opposed to law) is that we begin to want to take care of these beautiful things. The mind focused on the negative, on the law, will still be in bondage, but we want freedom, so we should focus on the good; in this case his creation that He called "good".

The other awesome thing is that nature study should point us to God; looking at his awesome creation should bring just that... Awe...