Guardians of God's wonderful creation

I'm not sure about you but I have surely enjoyed many of the beautiful days this past summer.  I even enjoyed today which is just a little cooler but what a reminder of the wonderful fall which is to come.

As I type from by back porch I here the crickets chirping and the birds singing and I'm watching as the rays of the setting sun glisten through the trees. This morning I saw two wonderful deer in my back yard and I always enjoy the scurrying of black and gray squirrels.  Today we picked up apples, apple cider, pumpkins, candy, green beans and cheese from our favorite orchard store.   And when I look up into the heavens.  They are deep blue with hardly a cloud in the sky.

Indeed as David would say,

"When I consider your heavens,

the work of your fingers,

the moon and the stars,

which you have set in place,

4 what is mankind that you are mindful of them,

human beings that you care for them?"  Psalm 8:3,4 

 

Yet God is mindful of us!  God loves us! 

 

I think that its safe to say that the beauty of this creation was given for us to enjoy but also to care for and to not take for granted.

 

Speaking again of humans David proclaims,

 

 ^5"You have made them a little lower than the angels
    and crowned them with glory and honor.
⁶ You made them rulers over the works of your hands;
    you put everything under their feet:
⁷ all flocks and herds,
    and the animals of the wild,
⁸ the birds in the sky,
    and the fish in the sea,
    all that swim the paths of the seas." (Psalm 8:5-8)

 

This by no means is a license to do whatever we want as "Lords" over the animals and creation.  God didn't put them under our feet to stomp on them.  Rather we are to love God's creation just as God loves us and cares for us.  This is a Divine mystery.  

 

Much has been said over the last 10 years about global warming or climate change.   Those who believe in this idea would claim that we have abused our rights as custodians of this planet and are in the process of destroying our atmosphere.   Frankly I believe that this is a little arrogant of us to think that we have the power to alter something so humongous as the atmosphere which God has put into place. In addition depending on the experts it seems like there is little agreed upon evidence to support it.  What we see in my opinion is the natural cycle of the weather which has gone on for Thousands of years.  Some might say for millions of years.  

 

But with that said I do believe in being kind to our planet.  I think recycling is a good idea both environmentally, and morally.  I believe we shouldn't be wasteful of our recourses which has caused the destruction of some of our rain forests.  And surely pollution during the 20th century had adverse effects on our environment and the health of countless people.   Yes,there needs to be balance and conservation.  It concerns me that we are such a throw away society and our landfills are pilling up with bottles, can's and Hamburger rappers.  

 

Sadly we throw away relationships just as easily sometimes.  Yet, God has been mindful of us.  God has been faithful to preserve us and give Jesus to die for us!  Surely as care takers of this planet we can help to keep it healthy and beautiful without going to the extreme.   

 

All of creation is in this together!  It's a gift to beheld and managed. 

 

Like David, we should shake our heads in disbelief that God has given us the privilege of enjoying it and taking care of it.  That's just one more wonderful aspect of God's grace and Glory.

 

Yes,  How majestic is your name in all the earth!  

 

but I better end this blog now before I get eaten up by the mosquito's!

What amazes you the most? Psalm 8

David is absolutely amazed at the glory and Majesty of God which is above all things.

David is absolutely amazed at God's creation:  The heavens which are the works of God's hands and the moon and stars that reflect His great glory!

But what perhaps amazed David most of all is that with all this glory,God looked upon us as just a little lower than the heavenly beings. This is more accurately translated that God made us a little lower than God himself and God crowned him with glory and honor.

This was shocking to David because he knew the sin of human kind and his own sin.  With this in mind God could have cast us aside and destroyed us if not for his grace.  Yet instead of casting us aside God gave his son Jesus to die for our sins and redeem us.   But it goes deeper than that.  Through his death we find forgiveness which is wonderful but the fact that we are restored to the position of Glory is unbelievable.

David repeats the same thought in Psalm 103:2-4 "Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits; who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion."

To ponder:  When's the last time you stopped to consider God's glory?
When is the last time you considered your own sinfulness and wondered, "Why does God put up with me?"
  When is the last time that you considered that not only does God forgive your sin but he seats you with him in glory?  When is the last time that you said thank you to God for his grace?

In this world of science and reason may we never lose the wonder of God's creation, God's love and God's grace.