“The
earth is the LORD’s, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell
therein.” (Psalm 24:1 KJV)
From the
opening verse of the Bible, Genesis 1:1, we see the creative power of God—“In
the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth”. God designed the earth
for a purpose. Likewise, He created mankind to care for His creation—the whole
of it.
Once sin
entered into the picture (Genesis 3), the whole of God’s creation began to
suffer as the result of mankind’s decision to live in a way that God had not
planned. The beauty was marred. Creation has beauty but within that beauty lies
danger too—danger from various elements, as well as animals.
God expects
us to care for the environment and the world He has given us. This is a sacred
trust, in fact, Ecclesiastes 1:4 states: “One generation passeth away, and
another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever.”
We have
only one planet…let us care for it! How are we doing at caring for our
environment? Are we helping or hurting
it?
It would be
so easy to take the easy way out and flippantly think: “Jesus is returning. Why
should I do anything to help the environment?” While Jesus is indeed
returning—likely soon—we still need to use care in what we do and how we do it.
Creation is fragile; therefore, we need to handle it with care.
We can do
many things (such as recycling paper or plastic, or planting a tree, or walking
instead of driving), that will make our world a cleaner, healthier place to
live.
It was not
all that long ago, during the Great Depression, that our parents, grandparents,
great-grandparents, and others learned to recycle/reuse/repurpose almost
everything. They were on to something that many of us in this disposable
culture have seemed to have forgotten: there is not an unlimited supply of
resources, eventually things run out, disappear. We would be wise to use its
resources with care.
Our
world—the whole of creation—is crying out. Crying out in desperation for a
change, for help—help that is found in Jesus Christ alone. The whole of
creation groans as even it awaits the return of Jesus (see Romans 8:22 read here). Are we
crying out as well?
Check out
this article on The High Calling
website for some ideas of how you can care for the environment: 5 Ways You Can Care for the Environment
Somewhere I
read that we borrow the earth from our children; therefore, we should give to
them an environment that is as healthy as possible.
Take some
time to soak in the beauty of God’s creation and praise and glorify Him for it!
What can
you do today or this week or this month to help the environment?
What are
you already doing to care for God’s wonderful, beautiful creation?
Please
join with me in prayer:
God
of Creation, thank You for Your beautiful and fragile world. We recognize many
times we haven’t cared for it as carefully as we should and have taken its
resources and beauty for granted; please forgive us. Grant us the wisdom to
protect Your world and use its resources with care. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
From My
Heart to Yours,
Kim
Hi Kim! I think God loves all His creation, and wants us to be respectful of it. That includes our planet. I am always so saddened to see trash on the highways, blown into bushes, and even thrown out car windows!
ReplyDeleteThe earth is our sister in creation. We should love it and treat it with joy and respect.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Ceil
Hi Ceil! Thank you for reading and commenting. I'm sure that God is grieved over how we care for this wonderful planet He entrusted to us. Trash carelessly thrown down in public places saddens me too. May God bless your weekend!
DeleteAs Danny is the regional head of Energy Star at EPA, we are extremely conscious of what it means to be environmentally responsible. This is our one world which God created for us to steward and care for. No, we have not done it to the best of our ability, that's for sure, but the more people who wake up and realize what an amazing gift we have been given, the better it will be for God's unmatched creation.
ReplyDeleteLove and blessings, Kim!
Hi Martha! Thank you for reading and commenting. I imagine that you and Danny are extremely conscious of being environmentally responsible, particularly with his work. I wonder how often God weeps over how we've handled our responsibility to care for the earth?
DeleteLove and blessings, Martha!