Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate that we have a day set aside to honor God’s green earth and to raise awareness of how we are treating the gift that God gave us. But just like we should be striving not to be “Sunday Christians”, shouldn’t we also be striving not to be “once a year ecologists”? With that in mind, this Earth Day, here are some thoughts to help you pray and meditate about His earth .
Change of Heart and Change of Lifestyle. If you haven’t quite figured it out yet, the best way to help humanity survive in this world is going to be a change of heart which, in turn leads to a change in lifestyle. Changing a heart and changing a lifestyle is something more than a once a year event. It is a difficult, ongoing pursuit that is impossible without God’s grace and power.
As believers, we have been given the power by God to change our hearts and lifestyle to be more like Christ. If you consider that the definition of power is “the ability to do your will”, and the definition of God’s power is the ability to do God’s will, then it becomes apparent that only by God’s power can we change our lifestyle to one that honors the earth (2 Pe 1:3-4) and treats it as His temple.
In the “Our Father’s World” seminars that we have been presenting around the country, there is a section that talks about the seventh day of creation. This day, typically considered as the day that God rested from creating, is the day that God rested and came into his temple (the earth) that he had created. If you stop and consider that this earth is actually God’s temple then you start to realize that, out of respect for the one who created the temple, we are going to have to change our ways.
Our Part In Nature. Have you ever asked yourself where you fit into God’s creation (nature). How do you interact with the land and the earth around you? What about the birds and trees that God created? Do you just take them for granted and treat them as “background wallpaper” to your daily life or do you try and understand how they effect you and you effect them?
Genesis tells us that God created man and put him in the garden — but then what? Were we supposed to go our own way and do our own thing or were we supposed to interact with the garden that God put us in. This is no simple question to answer. It is one that requires meditation and pondering.
Take some time in the next couple of days to keep this question in the forefront of your mind. Stop once in awhile and just look around you at the world that God created. Ask yourself, what is my place and my responsibilities in this garden? What part of it am I supposed to “tend”? Do I consider the things that God created (nature, trees, animals) differently than the things that man created (buildings, cities and roads)?
Hope. At it’s core, Earth Day is about hope. Hope that people will change how they live on this earth. Hope that caring for creation will someday become more important than profit, consumption or greed. Hope that if everyone makes a change in the way they live then the temple that God gave us to live in will become a bit more like the garden that it once was.
As someone who knows God through the holy spirit and His word, you have everything you need to live as God intended. God placed us here on the earth with all the tools we need to do His work. All we have to do is ask Him how we are supposed to put them to use.
This Earth day, go ahead and talk about recycling, wind power and alternate energy sources. Check out electric vehicles. Maybe even commit to eat a bit healthier. And take some time to pray and enjoy the miracle of the beautiful world that God has given us. It may be a bit scratched and dented and gasping for breath but take joy and have hope that next earth day your changes and actions may make this temple we call Earth a bit cleaner and shinier.
Happy Earth Day!