Thought for Today
Genesis 1:11 Then God said, "Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it." And it was so. . . 20 And God said, "Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky."
Numbers 11:7 Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its color was like the color of gum resin.
Matthew 16:2 He answered them, "When it is evening, you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.'
Revelation 9:17 And this was how I saw the horses in my vision: the riders wore breastplates the color of fire and of sapphire and of sulfur; the heads of the horses were like lions' heads, and fire and smoke and sulfur came out of their mouths.
Why are there different colors? I understand about prisms and the visible light spectrum. But why different colors. Wouldn’t it have been easier to create a monochromatic Creation? It has been alleged that men only see in the primary colors. That is not true. I learned about primary colors in elementary school. A quick computer search tells me that there are 3 commonly used primary color models: RGB, CMY and RYB (R=red, G=green, B=blue, C=cyan, M=magenta, Y=yellow), Each model is used for different purposes. Admittedly, no male ever used words like cyan or magenta unless he is a painter, a printer or works in television. But, no husband faced with painting a room would ever understand his wife recognizing 100 different colors all of which the husband would categorize as tan (ecru, linen, desert white, etc.).
Why did God create a world of color, a Creation which is essentially a riot of colors? I understand the evolutionary benefit of species being able to vary their exterior color to match the colors of the season. If one is a prey, being white in winter and green or brown in summer is advantageous. Camouflage is beneficial in many instances. But why did God set things up this way?
Every parent has probably struggled to answer the question, “Why is the sky blue?” When my own children asked, I understood that they were not seeking a scientific explanation of refraction and reflection. They cared naught about the molecules of the various gases in our atmosphere. They were just curious why the sky was blue. Like many parents, I quickly learned to answer with “That’s the color God gave the sky.”
The Bible doesn’t specifically answer my question about color. The word color appears few times in scripture. Even words like red and blue are rare. The Bible doesn’t even tell me the color of gum resin. My Bing search engine offers pictures of gum resin which vary from yellow to amber to red.
When God created Creation, did God anticipate that eventually people would gather into large cities, invent automobiles and need some way to differentiate stop signs from yield signs? Did God anticipate the ultimate advantages of red fire plugs and fire engines, the bright color making them more noticeable and easier to find? I certainly believe our Creator God, omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent might well have done so.
Why did God create a world of color, a Creation which is essentially a riot of colors? I believe God created our world of color, our universe of color and our Creation in all the vibrant hues of the spectrum for the sheer joy of it. I believe God created colors simply for our pleasure and enjoyment. I believe God created the visible light spectrum for its beauty. All of the beautiful colors and the visual art of their display everywhere was meant to make our hearts sing with the joy of that beauty.
Certainly our Creator God, who loved the world so much that God sent God’s own Son into our world for our salvation would surely want all of God’s creatures to love and appreciate God’s Creation. Take some time today and every day to relish God’s visual artistry and to thank God for the view.
Stay safe, return God’s love, trust God,
Pastor Ray