“And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.” – Genesis 1:11-13

If you try witnessing to people these days you will be met with LOTS of questions. Which is perhaps, why witnessing has fallen out of fashion. It’s easy to shy away from questions because “well that’s your opinion” or “where does it say that” or “how do you know” actually requires us to have STUDIED the Bible. And I really believe that God gave us the Bible to explain the epic story of his love for us so that we could both understand it… and explain it to others. Paul must have felt this way too since he took the time to explain the importance of knowing what you believe to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:14-15.

“Remind them of these things, and charge them before God not to quarrel about words, which does no good, but only ruins the hearers. Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.”

Now what I’m NOT saying is that I know everything – but what I do want you to know is that I think we SHOULD study. Stretch our brains and our hearts. Explore word choices and actually understand how the Bible was translated so that you can pick the version that speaks best to your soul. And also… this is why I chose to start studying in Genesis together. It’s not the most natural choice for devotions for moms but really why not? We need to be able to answer questions from our kids, others and for our own hearts as well.

Okay, but I know by now you’re dying to know the answer to my question: did God really create plants before the sun? And the answer is yes… and no. If you remember back to the third verse in Genesis you see that light was created on the first day:

“And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.”

And so we have to ask what the deal is with the fourth day where God says in Genesis 1:16-18

“And God made the two great lights-the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night-and the stars. And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.”

If he made light on day one why did he have to make it again on day four? Well, actually there are a couple of reasons it’s written this way. The first is that yes, God did make light in verse three. We must always believe the Bible first and desire to understand it second. So what does verse sixteen mean “and God made the two great lights”? The Hebrew word for MADE is actually asah which means something closer to “fashioned” or “worked on”. Therefore, rather than contradicting each other, day four focus on how God molded the light into the sun and moon to order and define the passing of time according to his purposes.

Which means: yes God created plants before he finished molding the sun and moon to function perfectly, but he created light on day one so the plants would have been just fine.

Simple right?! Okay maybe not but totally doable!! Let’s explore the Bible together with renewed passion as we study to be ready to give an answer and at the same time grow stronger in our own faith.

Try asking yourself the following questions and don’t hesitate to think beyond these to explore the best ways for you to study the Bible:

• Is reading the whole Bible important to me?

• Do I have a translation that I enjoy using?

• How can I be ready to explain my faith to others?

Let’s talk to God about what we just learned: Dear God, it can be so intimidating to embark on a quest to actually understand your word. Parts seem like such distant history and finding application can feel hopeless… but you are teaching my heart that this isn’t true! You have gracefully gifted me with a book of exactly how you came to save me and I want to explore it all. What gems of truth are waiting for my heart to find?! I’m excited to know! Thank you for your word and just as Paul urged Timothy I’m going to get studying!

And God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. And God called the expanse Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day. – Genesis 1:6-8

Have you guys read Girl Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis? There is a quote that I can’t tear myself away from because in it she speaks so much TRUTH!

“Stop quitting on yourself! Stop saying that you’ll start tomorrow… start right now, this second. Stop talking yourself out of chasing your goal and start speaking possibility into your life. Stop showing up for everyone else and never showing up for yourself. What if, just this once, you stuck with it? What if, just this time, you don’t break a promise you make to yourself? Not out of punishment or penance for all the times you’ve fallen off your goals, but because you are worthy and deserving of good things and the only way you’ll understand that truth is if you follow through on your personal commitments.”

And here is the most interesting idea that this passage brought to mind… what is stopping you? Why are you quitting on yourself? My guess is because of one of the following things: food, appearance, people, possessions, entertainment or money. If one of these things is stopping you then it’s probably filling a pretty big need in your life. A need you’re willing to sacrifice your dreams for (even if you don’t realize it yet).

And this is where I want to focus on day two of creation from Genesis 1:6-8. See on day two God separated the waters. The earth was pretty much encased in this watery bubble (think a baby inside it’s mother). But on this day God made a space between the waters called “Heaven” or sky. After this, there was water in the earth (think oceans) and water above the earth (think huge watery protective layer way up above the clouds, which people tend to think poured down during the great flood). This space in the middle of the waters was where humans and all non aquatic life would begin.

And while that is cool in and of itself there is another point to bring up. Creation stories are not unique to Christianity. A lot of people groups had them but our day two was their day one. In Egyptian creation accounts, creation begins with the water god, and all life comes after. In the Mesopotamian account, there are a few water gods but they are also responsible for creation. These two accounts differ from the Christian account of creation since in our Bible God controls water simply as one of his creations.

And here is where it gets SO INTERESTING for you and me. In at least two other culture groups, they turned their chief need into their highest god. Water was the most vital part of life in the Middle East and they regarded it so highly they made water into the creator of life. How often do we do that?! We take our biggest need and let it drive our lives instead of looking to the TRUE creator and letting Him put our needs in their proper places.

Do you want be a public speaker but you let feelings of inadequacy about your appearance keep you listening to inspirational podcasts? Do you want to be healthy and fit but you let your emotions dictate what you eat instead of your goals? Maybe you are so worried about making other people happy you are exhausted and worthless to your family? Or you want to be responsible with your money but you can’t stay away from 2-day delivery on Amazon. What about entertainment… are you wasting time God needs for other things? And how are you managing your finances, or are they managing you?

God wants you to stop quitting on yourself, because he made only one you for all of time. And if you fill your existence chasing a need and letting it be your god you will never know what role the true God has for you. Water was created as a gift and made to reflect God’s glory. So was: food, appearance, people, possessions, entertainment or money. And although depending on our personalities we will find ourselves NEEDING one of the above, we need to let God be God even more. You are worthy and deserving of all the good things that God has for you. But we must come to desire and respect Him over everything else.

Try asking yourself the following questions and don’t hesitate to think beyond these to explore the best ways for you to keep God higher than your needs:

• Do I need God more than anything?

• If not, what do I need most?

• How can I give my needs to God and let him return them to me in their proper place… so that I can be the person he created me to be?

Let’s talk to God about what we just learned: Dear God. You are amazing and the way you ordered the elements of creation teaches me SO much about the way I need to place my priorities. I don’t want to value my needs over you! My needs are just a part of your creation. Please help me hold you highest. Allow me to see food, appearance, people, possessions, entertainment and money for what they are and worship you alone. Thanks for teaching me things God. I love learning from your word.

God called the light day, and the darkness might. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. – Genesis 1:5

A cliche handed to busy moms often goes something like this: “if you’re not excited when you wake up in the morning you need to change what’s waiting for you when you get up.” And while it might sound super deep and make the person who said it feel smart and trendy it’s just not helpful. Because really… my magic wand has been out of batteries for years and I really can’t change my babies into independent pottiers, my teens into non-hormonal and wise citizens and even if I hit my husband with the wand he’s not going to be able to hear the children in the middle of the night the way I can. Which makes me wonder what this saying thinks I should do? Wave goodbye to my current life and go live on the tip of a mountain surrounded by blue sky and goats?! Umm… no. So how do you wake up excited in the morning?

In the verses preceding Genesis 1:5 we are told that God did some stuff. He worked hard making real things from nothing (yeah, that would be hard for sure because making dinner from ingredients every night can be taxing). But God took nothing, made light and told day to go over there and night over there and they stayed. Think of separating fighting kids. Exhausting. And they usually don’t stay apart. So yeah. God had a full day. But after that full day came a thing called evening.

Have you ever paused on that word evening? Or did you jump right over it to find out about the next day? Can I offer you something worth pausing over; more helpful than a cliche?

If you are not excited when you wake up in the morning you need to protect your evening.

See God could have said, “ hey humanity! I made stuff, threw myself into bed, went to sleep playing on my phone until it hit me in the face and then woke up to begin again… but he didn’t. No. He did the work of the day, had an evening and then morning came.

Later in Genesis (1:27) we will see that God created us in his own image, which is why following the patterns of living that God puts out for us to emulate us so important. We are like him. We work like him (not as well of course… think glitchy carbon copy). But still! We need evening even more than God does. I might even go as far as to say that God probably didn’t need it at all… he did it just to teach us healthy habits.

So where do we even begin applying this? Should we cancel soccer practice, stop cuddling kittens for the humane society after dinner and say no to everyone who asks you over for desert and card games? No. But we do need to start putting a plan in place to reclaim evening so it can serve as that crucial buffer that prepares you for the next day. God has gifted this idea to us from day one of creation, as the best way to recharge and get ready for what comes next.

Try asking yourself the following questions and don’t hesitate to think beyond these to explore the best ways for you to experience evening:

• How do you prepare for the next workday to dawn?

• In what ways do you protect your energy in the evenings?

• Where do you credit your days successes (or do you simply let them slide by unrecognized unless someone else recognizes them)? BTW, try crediting them to God and let this gratitude spark joy.

• When does evening begin for you?

Let’s talk to God about what we just learned: Dear God. Thank you for evening. Somehow I missed that I was supposed to use this space to ready myself for the next day. As a result I often find myself trapped in a never ended cycle of duty and drudgery. This is not the life you meant me to live. I ask you to transform my mindset so that I can begin again. Help me model good habits of “evening” for my children. And let me glorify you in the way I choose to order my time in your image. Because I am like you and I want to be more so each day. I love you. Amen.