Instructions
1. Read today’s Bible verse from the title.
2. Take a look at the personal reflections (or don’t).
3. Write your own words according to the Genesis 1 writing prompt.
4. Check out the Author’s Entry.
Genesis 1 (NLV)
(Click to view full verse for writing prompt.)
The Account of Creation
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.[a] 2 The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.
3 Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good. Then he separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day” and the darkness “night.”
And evening passed and morning came, marking the first day.
6 Then God said, “Let there be a space between the waters, to separate the waters of the heavens from the waters of the earth.” 7 And that is what happened. God made this space to separate the waters of the earth from the waters of the heavens. 8 God called the space “sky.”
And evening passed and morning came, marking the second day.
9 Then God said, “Let the waters beneath the sky flow together into one place, so dry ground may appear.” And that is what happened. 10 God called the dry ground “land” and the waters “seas.” And God saw that it was good. 11 Then God said, “Let the land sprout with vegetation—every sort of seed-bearing plant, and trees that grow seed-bearing fruit. These seeds will then produce the kinds of plants and trees from which they came.” And that is what happened. 12 The land produced vegetation—all sorts of seed-bearing plants, and trees with seed-bearing fruit. Their seeds produced plants and trees of the same kind. And God saw that it was good.
13 And evening passed and morning came, marking the third day.
14 Then God said, “Let lights appear in the sky to separate the day from the night. Let them be signs to mark the seasons, days, and years. 15 Let these lights in the sky shine down on the earth.” And that is what happened. 16 God made two great lights—the larger one to govern the day, and the smaller one to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set these lights in the sky to light the earth, 18 to govern the day and night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.
19 And evening passed and morning came, marking the fourth day.
20 Then God said, “Let the waters swarm with fish and other life. Let the skies be filled with birds of every kind.” 21 So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that scurries and swarms in the water, and every sort of bird—each producing offspring of the same kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 Then God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply. Let the fish fill the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.”
23 And evening passed and morning came, marking the fifth day.
24 Then God said, “Let the earth produce every sort of animal, each producing offspring of the same kind—livestock, small animals that scurry along the ground, and wild animals.” And that is what happened. 25 God made all sorts of wild animals, livestock, and small animals, each able to produce offspring of the same kind. And God saw that it was good.
26 Then God said, “Let us make human beings[b] in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth,[c] and the small animals that scurry along the ground.”
27 So God created human beings[d] in his own image.
In the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
28 Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.”
29 Then God said, “Look! I have given you every seed-bearing plant throughout the earth and all the fruit trees for your food. 30 And I have given every green plant as food for all the wild animals, the birds in the sky, and the small animals that scurry along the ground—everything that has life.” And that is what happened.
31 Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good!
And evening passed and morning came, marking the sixth day.
Personal reflections
*Optional: read before tackling today’s writing prompt for Genesis 1.
I love to pair this opening chapter of the Bible with the opening words of the Book of John. I don’t usually ask viewers to read more than one chapter per day, but for the sake of this first writing study, please, flip to the New Testament and give John 1:1-5 a read. If you have not read Genesis 1 from the dropdown above, I would highly recommend reading it after John 1:1-5. The parallels are phenomenal! So that I don’t give you any spoilers, I’m going skip down a line.
Are you finished reading John 1:1-5?
Did you catch what John says? He says the Word was there from the beginning! He says everything is created through the Word and absolutely nothing can be created without the Word.
This passage spoke to me – like shouted in my face – a few years back when God was speaking to me about starting a journalism school for missions. He greatly impressed upon my heart the importance of the Word – the literal word – for which he gifted me a passion.
He showed me what an honor it is to be a writer, how set apart and holy I feel to be chosen for such a task as recording history and passing along teaching moments and even wooing the future generation, occasionally, with poetry.
This is how I want all writers to feel! As you know, we are often loners, pretty nerdy and dirt poor, so it’s hard to feel good about our talents! Alas, God says we have a HUGE purpose.
Someone in college once asked me why I’d rather work at a newspaper than a television station, where everyone sees you and thinks you’re a celebrity.
I said I’d rather see my byline in print than my face on television, but more than that, I’d rather just see the words on the page and know that they benefited at least one person.
I still feel that way today. Though, I sometimes lose sight of that, especially because we don’t always get to know if our words benefit even one person.
It’s super uplifting when we do get confirmation that at least one person got something out of the words we have written, isn’t it? Let’s consider that a bonus from God and learn how to thank him daily for the beautiful gift – and responsibility – of writing with which he has blessed us.
Genesis 1 writing prompt: In the beginning
Remember when you first realized your love of writing. What prompted it?
Author’s entry for Genesis 1 writing prompt
My moment came in sixth grade when Mrs. Lancaster asked us to write children’s books to read to the kindergarten classes.
I wrote about a man who was so tall that he walked under a door and got a humongous bump on his head.
I don’t remember the story or even the point of it, but I do remember my friend Misti and her mom, Marilyn, just raving about it. And I remember getting a few compliments from the kindergartners as well. It felt good to relay a message – which I think had something to do with pride or humility or something – through my imagination brought to life through words (and pictures, but mine were stick figures because we had to illustrate them ourselves).
That does remind me, though, that several of the kids in our class learned their gifting of art trough this exercise. While my story did get rave reviews, several other students received tons of oooos and ahhhhhs for their artwork.
I particularly liked Johnny Redman’s artwork. I don’t remember his book specifically, but I do remember it having a huge wow factor.
I kept my book for a long time, but I think it finally got lost in the shuffle and probably thrown out.
Today I’m thankful for wonderful friends like Misti Jacobson and her mother, Marilyn, well her whole family really. They were a second family to me.
Their encouraging words are still guiding me today.
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