The last few days I have found myself on a quiet hillside building cattle fence, sweating like crazy, battling with poison ivy, briars, and downed trees. While the work has been tough, it has given me the opportunity to get really really close with a lot of God’s Earth and to reflect on how I care for it.
When we talk about taking care of the Earth, it is often in terms of leaving a better world for future human beings. What if, instead, we think about it in terms of loving the Earth like God does. I know for sure I fail at this regularly. Just the other day I decided it was too much work to rinse out my Starbucks cup and just tossed it in the trash instead of the recycle bin. On our farm I have failed at following best practices for environmental stewardship simply because they are expensive or take a lot of work.
If Jesus were standing here with me he would probably come up with some parable about how I really SHOULD be treating the Earth. I would for sure deserve it. I think most of us would. In Luke 12:6-7 we read about how God loves even the sparrows, though they are worth much less than us. Why should we care for even the most “worthless” bits of God’s Earth any less than ourselves? We shouldn’t.
6 Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. 7 Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. -Luke 12:6-7
As we start to wind down our discussion on being good stewards of the Earth, lets be conscious of what we do each day to care for it and to understand the impact that our actions have on the Earth-from the whales all the way down to the microorganisms in the soil. Let us love them all.
