What ferns can teach us about God’s Word

I love to see ferns break through the dirt each spring. Recently, I hiked a new trail and saw a Broad Beech Fern. The fern’s bright green fronds, or compound leaves, make triangular shapes. At my home, I have a dark green Christmas fern, named for its stocking-shaped leaflets.

 

Early April, when the Christmas fern peaks out of the ground, the fronds look like a coiled, tiny garden hose. The furry hairs on the leaves keep them warm as the chill of winter returns a few more times. These curled leaves are called “fiddleheads”, named after the curled end of a violin or fiddle.

 

As spring turns to summer, the leaves open and stand upright with leaflets spreading on either side of the plant stalk. These large leaves reach in every direction and shade the ground below. When fall approaches, the Christmas fern releases spores into the air to start new plants. When winter comes, the leaves remain green until a freeze causes them to fall to the ground and turn brown. I enjoy watching the fern grow throughout the year.

 

You may ask, why are fern leaves exciting? Ferns do not produce flowers like other plants. To appreciate their beauty, you must look with intention to see and admire their features. They are truly beautiful wonders.

 

They are also easy to spot when you are out for a walk because of their green, spreading leaves.

 

When you find one, observe it through the seasons to see curled fiddleheads, spreading compound leaves, and spores on the underside of the leaf or in its own spore stalk. The closer we look, the more details and wonder we see.

Isaiah 43:19 says, “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland”.

 

By revisiting the fern through the seasons, you learn more about it. The same is true about the Bible; the more you read it, the more you grow in wisdom and in knowledge about God. I can read the same scripture one day with joy and the next time with tears. That is because the Word of God is “alive and active,” as it says in Hebrews 4:12. The Holy Spirit will reveal new things to our hearts and minds when we meditate on His Word. God’s Word is filled with exciting truths that we need to hear every day.

"How I love your teachings!

I think about them all day long."

Psalm 119"97 (NLT)

Dear God, help me be diligent in studying your Word so I can know you better. Give me eyes to see the new things you are doing in my life and fill my heart with your joy.

Fun Fact:

In the rainy Pacific Northwest (U.S.), there is a large fern called the Giant Chain Fern that grows up to 9 feet (3.7 m) in height. The plant is named for the spores on the underside of the leaf that look like a chain.

Did you miss last week's Field Notes?