Have you ever thought about decomposers? Without decomposers such as fungi, mushrooms, and bacteria, our world would be littered with the carcasses and remains of every plant, animal, and person who ever lived on Earth.
But because God is so good, God has orchestrated creation to take care of its own dead bodies through decomposers.
If you buy bananas from a store on a Monday, they might be starting to turn brown and icky by Friday. In the back of your refrigerator you might find a strawberry with mold on it. When fruit is picked, it’s dead. It’s not rotten, but it will never grow anymore because it’s been picked from its living plant. And it’s only a matter of time until the decomposers in your kitchen—microscopic bacteria and fungi—find the fruit and start to rot it on a quest to return everything dead on earth to dirt in which new things can grow.With your parents’ or guardians’ permission, try this fascinating experiment:
Put some lunch leftovers on a disposable plate into a large plastic zipper bag and seal it. Write the date on the bag. Allow the bag to sit undisturbed for several months. You will be able to watch the decomposers at work. Your potato salad will turn green, then white. Then it will turn into dirt and perhaps even sprout a mushroom. It has returned to the earth. The same will occur with your turkey sandwich and your string cheese. Decomposers are amazing!
Things on earth do not stay dead. God uses decomposers to generate new life using the materials provided by dead things. God brings new life through things that have died.
Jesus died on the cross on Good Friday, but the story doesn’t end there. Jesus arose to new life, defeating sin and death! We serve a resurrected Savior, and we can look forward to our own resurrections someday!
We rejoice because Jesus arose to new life. Nothing amazing stays dead because our God is a God of resurrection. Nature tells this story every day. Decomposers remind us that God will never give up on creation and that God constantly renews beauty and life on earth.
Think about these Bible verses and rejoice in God’s resurrection power!
Ecclesiastes 12:7: “And the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.â€
John 11:25: “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die.â€
About the Author
Amy Kinney is originally from Michigan but now lives in the Twin Cities of Minnesota. When she is not teaching, she can be found singing or exploring God’s creation.