Wow!!! Have you ever seen anything like that before? I love the outdoors and I love good photography, but this shot of this little gecko just blew me away. At first I wasn’t sure exactly what I was looking at. Was it a marble? Or was it some kind of exotic semiprecious gem mounted in a uniquely crafted setting? Then I saw it–an eye like none I’d ever seen before.

This stunning photo was sent to me by none other than National Geographic in their email update. Anke Seidlitz submitted this as her entry in NG’s 2009 photo contest. The editors selected this shot as the featured picture of the month for October 2009 and I can certainly see why.

What captured my attention was the exotic beauty and attention to detail that was reflected in this little gal’s eye (Yes, the photographer confirmed that she’s a female Smith’s green-eyed gecko that hung out on one of the  chalets next to her home, indulging on insects drawn to the lights at night). The exquisite detail and opalescence of the eye causes me to pause in awe and wonder: Why would God bother to pour so much creative energy and delicate artistry into the detail of this creature’s eye that few of us would ever take the time to notice, much less stop and appreciate?

This kind of painstaking attention to detail and beauty tells me at least 3 things about God.

First, He loves beauty. Eccl. 3:11 states, “He has made everything beautiful in it’s time.”  The heart of God is one that excels in the creation of, appreciation for, and delight in beauty. In bold and beautiful splashes of color, the intricacy of His designs are displayed with a creative flare that can only be a product of His wild imagination. After all, who else would have thought of giving this common little lizard such a spectacularly gorgeous eye?

Second, He’s into the details. In Luke 12:6-7, Jesus taught His disciples once: “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” How many hairs cluttered the bathroom counter this morning as you got ready for your day? (Have you noticed that they increase more and more each year as we age?) Did you count them? Probably not. If you did, you probably need to seek help for being a little too obsessive-compulsive. But what’s amazing it that while we could care less, Jesus tells us that God keeps count. Why? Because He’s got nothing better to do with His time? Of course not. It’s His way of saying that He pays attention to every detail of life . . . of green-eyed geckos and of your life and mine.

Third, He has fun being God. I can just imagine Him smiling with an almost precocious grin as He playfully splashes the color into the eye of the gecko and laughs with delight. Don’t paint God into a box! He’s not an impersonal and impervious being who creates with machine-like precision. He’s an artist who indulges in a creative imagination like none other. He’s an infinitely personal God who has an unlimited capacity for unbridled imagination. I can barely image the intense joy He must have experienced in creating such a wonderful world.

It must have been fun!

I can’t imagine a world without flowers.  No color. Just green. Now, green is great, as a matter of fact, everyone is going green and green is the new black.  That’s all well and good, but what about the ferociously gorgeous splashes of pink, red, purple, orange, yellow, blues that we see in tulips, snapdragons, and irises?

Imagine a world without the scorching hues of red, orange and yellow in a sunset or a sunrise?

Imagine a world without snow-capped mountains? Deep blue oceans? Desert sands?

Imagine a world without beauty. That would be a world without God, for God is beautiful. Take time to soak in the beauty of the Lord today, because “From Zion, perfect in beauty, God shines forth (Psalms 50:2).