With the weather looking as if it is going to be beautiful for the next week or so, I want to talk about the importance of getting outdoors into nature. There have been many studies to show that getting outdoors especially into nature is highly beneficial. I was reading that it has many benefits and here is a few that I have read up on:
It can improve short term memory
Being outdoors has demonstrated a de-stressing effect
Enjoying outdoors helps eliminate fatigue
It can help boost your self-esteem and reduce anxiety
It can protect your eye-sight
Spending time outdoors reduces your blood pressure
There is no doubt that being outdoors has a lot of health benefits and emotional benefits from a scientific standpoint. But what does the Bible say about nature and the great outdoors? Well in Genesis 2:8-9 it says,
“8 Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. 9 The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food.”
God’s creation was made to be pleasing to the eye, for us to admire and to enjoy. At student night we are watching a series by 24/7 prayer. In one of the videos they were talking about “why pray?” and they talk about when Adam and Eve were in the Garden, before sin and suffering. What would they have talked to God about. And Pete Greig, one of the leaders in the video says, “They must have just said to him, good job on the tree”.
God’s nature is revealed in creation as we read in Romans 1:20,
“20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.”
I’d encourage you, especially whilst the weather is nice, to get outdoors into nature. And spend time talking with God and asking him to reveal more about himself to you through his creation.
Commenti