“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!