More From Ken Claar

My dad could grow anything. I always said if he stuck his wooden cane in the ground, it would soon sprout leaves. Not me. If I stuck a perfectly good tree in the ground it would almost immediately die. So I was surprised when the coleus shoots produced roots in the glass. And it was even more amazing when the plants started to grow as soon as I planted them.

I had never had house plants because seeing half-dead things on the table was not encouraging. But my two coleuses turned into six, and it wasn’t long before I had to replant them. (Naturally, I had let them outgrow the pots and had to throw them out and start over.) But now I have five new plants (one is still in the water glass), and I enjoy God’s perfect sights every day.

Since way back in the Genesis days, God has made beauty for our pleasure. Jesus said even Solomon in all his glory wasn’t robed as beautifully as the wildflowers. I once wrote a devotion for The Upper Room about finding a beautiful ajo lily in a barren Arizona desert, so that statement rings true for me.

The older I get, the more I am amazed by the way God made everything. Just think for a minute about how our bodies work. Who else could have made that intricate machine with its myriad parts and pieces that all work together?

I suggest that in this new year, you spend some time pondering how perfectly everything is made and how complex the pieces are.  Give God glory and thanks that you are a part of it all.