Daily Devotion

“Michel Benoist (1715–1774), a French Jesuit, studied mathematics, astronomy and hydraulics in Paris under members of the French Academy of Sciences before reaching Beijing in 1744, where he served the Qianlong court for some thirty years. He used his hydraulics to design fountains for the European-style palaces of the Yuanmingyuan, above all the zodiac water clock before the Haiyantang, whose twelve animal heads spouted water in turn, each for one of the twelve Chinese hours. He also made a world map for the emperor and introduced Copernican cosmology to China. He died in Beijing in 1774.”

Wikipedia · Wikipedia, "Michel Benoist" (citing Mark Elliott, Nathan Sivin, Louis Pfister et al.)

Scripture

Psalm 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Reflection

The fountains Michel Benoist designed for the Yuanmingyuan remind us of the essence of service: all "ingenious" achievements stem from obedience to the Creator's laws. Just as water can gush forth against the current by following the laws of gravity and pressure, our breakthroughs in ministry or technological development are essentially discovering and applying the order established by God. The Psalms remind us that all things silently proclaim God's glory. The pinnacle of professional competence should not be about showcasing human means, but about revealing the greatness of the God who established all laws. The more precise and orderly our work, the more we become the firmament proclaiming God's means.