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READ: PSALM 104:10-28; MATTHEW 6:19-34; 10:29-31\n\n\n\nThere is a lot of nature outside my window. I hear birds singing their morning songs and talking to each other all day long. Occasionally I see rabbits and even a few deer. I hear coyotes howl at night, and I\u2019ve seen turkeys strut across the yard. All of these animals have a home out there. They know how to survive in the forest and get what they need to make it through each day. And God is the One who made all of them. He gave them the ability to make a home in the wild and survive.\n\n\n\nWhen I think about all the animals and what God has given them, I know that He will take care of me. After all, Jesus said, \u201cDo not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?\u201d (Matthew 6:25-26).\n\n\n\nHumans are God\u2019s most precious creation. We are the ones He came to seek and to save (Luke 19:10). It was for our sins that Jesus died on the cross. And just as He rose from the grave, He promises to raise us when He returns. We are the ones He loves.\n\n\n\nGod cares so much for us, even more than He does for all the animals in the wild (Matthew 10:29-31). When I am afraid or wonder about what to do with my life, I can remember that. I can know that God will help me and show me what to do. He takes care of all the animals, and He will do even more for me. \u2022 Bethany Acker\n\n\n\n\u2022 What kinds of animals can you see where you live? Consider taking some time this week to pause and watch them and be reminded of how God is taking care of them and you.\n\n\n\n\u2022 Because our world has been broken by sin, sometimes animals hurt each other and compete for what they need to survive, and humans do too. But one day, Jesus promises to return and make all things new. Then \u201cthe wolf will live with the lamb\u2026and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the cobra\u2019s den, and the young child will put its hand into the viper\u2019s nest. They will neither harm nor destroy\u201d (Isaiah 11:6-9). How can the hope of the new creation Jesus is bringing free us to trust Him, and to love others the way He calls us to, instead of hurting other people for fear that we won\u2019t have enough? (2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 5:13-14)\n\n\n\n\u201cLook at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?\u201d Matthew 6:26 (NIV)