You learn a great deal by going outside
Have you noticed how many Bible passages draw conclusions from looking at the natural world? Here’s only a small sample:
3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, 4 what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?
(Ps. 8:3-4 ESV)
6 Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. 7 Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, 8 she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest. 9 How long will you lie there, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep?
(Prov. 6:6-9 ESV)
28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
(Matt. 6:28-30 ESV)
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.
20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
(Rom. 1:18-20 ESV)
I could, of course, list many more. Jesus himself was fond of drawing lessons from fig trees, from the weather, and from trees and their fruit. This was the world that people throughout history have been familiar with. The lessons drawn from the natural world were helpful both because they were well known as well as because they operated just the way God designed them to. The world does not ‘just happen’; it has been designed and made by God and continues because of His consistent control.
Most of us are city dwellers. We live in buildings and often work in offices. We travel between those places in cars or buses or trains. Our modern lifestyles have separated us from the natural world to the point that we don’t think about it much like David or Paul or Jesus did. The natural world might only become an inconvenience that leads us to get wet when it rains or sweaty when it is hot.
Our modern indoor, airconditioned world can give us the illusion that we are actually in control of what happens. We control the climate in our cars and the comfort level in our offices. Yet it is exactly that, an illusion. We see this when the power goes out for some reason and so much of what we base our lives around becomes unusable. God remains in control of the world, not us.
We’re missing something else important when we fail to consider the natural world that God has made. We are not considering the big questions of God and where we fit in the world. In Psalm 8, David’s reflection on the stars made him question how great God was and how insignificant he was. Paul says in Romans 1 that considering the natural world means no person is without excuse and everyone should understand that there is a God who made all of this. So many never even consider these important ideas because their indoor-dwelling means they do not have to.
Do you go outside much? Your perspective on life will shift if you do. Maybe take a short walk this afternoon. Go outside and look at the stars at night. Or take up a sport or hobby that will make you spend time in the world God has made. It is good for us to ask the big questions that being in God’s creation will bring to our minds, and to thank God for the beauty He has made that we often don’t even notice.