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Commentary on "Nature as a Source of Health"
Day 5: Wednesday, March 16, 2011 - Communion With God in Nature
OVERVIEW
This lesson starts out with a story of a new Christian (converted from atheism) who lived for a number of months in the country. Seeing nature’s beauty caused him to say, “It was as if my eyes were open for the first time.” It was during this time that he came to “truly know the Lord”. It then mentions Matthew 6:25-34. “What is Jesus telling us we can learn from studying nature?” Luke 5:16 says that Jesus withdrew himself into the wilderness and prayed. The beauty, comfort, peace and serenity one finds in nature can speak to our hearts and minds in ways that nothing else can. It moves into an Ellen G. White quote (Ministry of Healing, p. 58) about the need for solitude in nature so that we can hear the voice of God. It ends with the statement, “When was the last time you communed with the Lord in nature? If possible, make an effort to do just that. You might just be surprised at what a positive spiritual effect it will have.”
OBSERVATIONS
Once again, the main point seems to go back to how nature is positive; good for our minds and body. Nature is a wonderful place to commune in a more solitary way with the Lord, but the emphasis should be on the Lord, not nature. People in polluted cities and environmentally undesirable areas can still hear the Holy Spirit, as a believer is indwelt, not hearing it externally from God’s creation. In nature we are, perhaps, able to help minimize distractions, but the Holy Spirit is just as present with a believer no matter what the setting. The new believer, (former atheist) mentioned in the beginning of the story, was regenerated at his new birth by the Holy Spirit—this is what should have been the eye-opener. The Holy Spirit removes the veil and blinders (2 Cor. 3:16-18) to our eyes when we accept Christ into our hearts. Nature does declare the glory of God, in a general way, but to truly know the Lord, we need the regeneration of the Holy Spirit, not nature (2 Cor. 5:5)
The passage listed in Matthew is really about worry, not nature. Nature is mentioned because of the beauty and glory God puts into its detail—if He cares so much for nature, how much more does He care for us? Therefore, don’t worry—seek first the kingdom of God, and He will take care of all these other things we need.
The Luke 5:16 passage is about Jesus going into “deserted places” to pray. This, again, has nothing to do with nature and everything to do with praying to His Father, where He could be alone, away from the crowd of people.
The Ellen G. White quote is just extrabiblical and unnecessary to understanding nature, the Holy Spirit or anything else.
In response to the closing question about communing in nature, I’d just say that nature is amazing as a general revelation of God and who He is, but our spiritual health is not dependent on nature at all. Our spiritual health is related to our acceptance of Jesus as Lord of our life, then being regenerated by the Holy Spirit, and how He then works in our hearts and lives.
CONCLUSIONS
- Nature can have a positive physical and mental effect on us, but not how we truly come to know the Lord.
- People in polluted, environmentally undesirable areas can still hear the Holy Spirit as believers. The emphasis is on the Lord, not nature. It’s internal, not external.
- The Matthew 6:25-34 passage is really about worry/anxiety, not nature. If we seek first the kingdom of God, all the other things we need will be given to us.
- The Luke 5:16 passage is about Jesus praying to His Father. He needed to get away from the crowd to be by Himself. The verse says “deserted places”—not necessarily a beautiful, or aesthetically pleasing place.
- The Ellen G. White quote is extrabiblical and unnecessary to understanding nature, the Holy Spirit, or anything else.
- Our spiritual health is not dependent on nature at all. Nature can be an amazing inspiration to us as a general revelation of God, but our spiritual health depends upon our acceptance of Jesus as Lord and Savior of our life, being regenerated by the Holy Spirit, and how He then works in our hearts and lives.
Copyright 2011 BibleStudiesForAdventists.com. All rights reserved. Revised March 13, 2011. This website is published by Life Assurance Ministries, Glendale, Arizona, USA, the publisher of Proclamation! Magazine. Contact email: BibleStudiesForAdventists@gmail.com.
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