Care for God’s Creation (III)

Care for God’s Creation IV

 

Why do religious people act so wickedly towards the natural environment? It is because most religious people do not realize that taking good care of the environment is part and parcel of our service to God. Most of us do not realize that our worship or service to God should include the care of this beautiful world that God created. So, as other people clean it every day, we make it dirty again and again.

As other people plant trees and flowers, we burn or damage them. As other people clear the rivers and waterways, we block them. And as government tars the roads, we dig them and spoil them.

In Genesis chapter 1, we saw the story of creation. God created the world in six days. At some points as the work of creation went on, He would assess what He had created. Each time He looked at what He had created, He concluded that it was good. Let us read a few examples:

Genesis 1:4  And God saw the light, that it was good:

Genesis 1:12  And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

Genesis 1:25  And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

Genesis 1:31  And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

So, anytime we look around and we see how we have altered creation, and we ourselves can admit that what we see is no longer good because of how we have used the environment, we must conclude at such times that we have not served God well. God is the creator of nature; and He put us here to take good care of the good and beautiful earth that He created.

So, a Christian should not drink bottled water while in a moving vehicle and throw the plastic out of the car or bus window. A

Christian should not bend down just anywhere and defecate in open places to contaminate the environment. A Christian should not be among those who damage the road and refuse to fix it back. A Christian should work towards making the natural environment better – not worse.

It may not look “spiritual”, but it is part and parcel of our service to God.

As part of our service to God, we all need to take good care of the environment. We need to take good care of our natural surroundings. We need to join hands to clean up and green up public spaces. We need to re-create “Eden”, the garden of God, wherever we live and work as Christians. It may look like a natural work; but it is a divine duty.

to be continued.

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