In today’s world, we hear a lot of talk about the environment. Everywhere you look, there’s something new on the market or in the newspapers that helps to save resources, reduce your carbon footprint, or any other myriad of environmental goals. On the other hand, many in the conservative/Christian realm are quick to reject these as foolhardy and unnecessary. Is that right? What does the Bible say about this? How should we be approaching our environment?

You can see that my picture shows the world in someone’s hand. Many would attribute this to the fate of the world being in our hands, but this could also stand for the whole world being in His hands. We know for a fact that God does all things for our good. (Romans 8:28) I also ran across this verse while reading my Bible a few weeks ago and found it rather poignant:

“While the earth remains,
Seedtime and harvest,
Cold and heat,
Winter and summer,
And day and night
Shall not cease.” –Genesis 8:22

This verse is very clear in the fact that we will not need to dispair when it comes to God’s provision of resources for our earth. Than is that the end of it? Can we just cast the well-being and care of the earth aside and just say that it is in God’s hands?

Well, there is another couple verses in Genesis that I’m sure many of you are familiar with. Genesis 1:28-30 says, “Then God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.’ And God said, ‘See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food. Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food’; and it was so.” Obviously God has given mankind the authority over the earth and, in the same hand, responsibility for it.

Many may use that verse to justify using the resources of the earth any which way they want, and that is understandable. However, think of it this way. When you buy a home, it is yours. You can do anything with it that you wish, but if you don’t take care of it, you have to deal with it breaking down. If you don’t clean it, you have to deal with living in a messy house. We have the ability to do what we wish with the resources God has given us, but, if we don’t take care of our environment, we will have to deal with living in a messy earth. Many have already experienced this. How many of you have walked outside and seen the smog polluting the once beautiful blue sky? Or the garbage polluting the once sparkling seas? It’s not very pleasant to live like this.

How many of you remember the old cartoon with the grasshopper and the ants? The grasshopper wanted to party all the summer long, but the ants went to work. The grasshopper thought they were dull, and he was probably a little right. However, when the winter came, the grasshopper was out in the cold with no food, and the ants were inside with a fire and plenty to last them the season. While this cartoon was rather funny being set in the roaring 20s, complete with music, it comes to some extent from a verse in Proverbs.

Go to the ant, you sluggard!
Consider her ways and be wise,
Which, having no captain,
Overseer or ruler,
Provides her supplies in the summer,
And gathers her food in the harvest.
How long will you slumber, O sluggard?
When will you rise from your sleep?
A little sleep, a little slumber,
A little folding of the hands to sleep—
So shall your poverty come on you like a prowler,
And your need like an armed man.”

We need to think ahead and be responsible for all the things that God has given us. This includes our environment–even more than for our own selfish purposes. We see this principle in 1 Corinthians 10:31: “Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

It is as simple as recycling, turning off lights when you leave rooms, reducing you garbage and energy usage, or any other of a myriad of things, but just don’t be dismissive. The Bible calls us to higher standards than that. Rather than be ridiculed by the world for being purposely ignorant, let us set higher standards for better reasons and do it with a joyful heart!

Do you have any great ideas about how to better take care of our environment?