The Earth is the Lord's

Warnings about climate change and the fate of the planet have been around for many years, but in the past few weeks the debate has reached a new height. 

In the face of so much fear, I looked around and saw a magnificent display of God's grace -- in the beauty and abundance of nature.
At church, the hydrangea have turned a deep red. So lovely, I cut some to use as a bouquet during worship.

At home my apple trees are laden with fruit. These are dwarf trees yet they could feed ten families. (I'll  take a box to the foodbank.)

The fall flowers of dahlia and zinnia blaze brightly in the autumn sun

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The maple tree makes my heart lift each time I look out the window.

Even the last roses of summer flaunt their beauty in the dying season.

My soul sings in response to God's creation. 

Yet the streets are full of fear.

Humanity has polluted  God's garden. 

We needn't look to the scientists and the activists for direction. We need only look to God's Word. Genesis 2:15 says that we are to care for creation. Lv. 25: 23-24 reminds us that the earth is the Lord's and we are but aliens and tenants.  Jer. 2:7 "I brought you into a fertile land  . . . you defiled my land." Prov. 12:10 The righteous care for the needs of their animals. 1 Cor. 4: 1-2  This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful. 

And in the beginning --
Genesis 1:21 "And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good."

Thanks to Aarol for her heron photo.