God and you

Day 166

'The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.'

Genesis 2:15

I know that all I ever really talk about in these devotionals is about us and God. But what about the rest of God's creation? What about the animals, and the plants, and the rest of the wonderful world God has given us? I know that personally I'm not the sort of person who is crazy about the environment, but that doesn't stop it from being God's wonderful creation. And it is beautiful. Everywhere around you, all the nature and creatures you see, God created them with a purpose. He created them because he knew they were good, and he knew they were precious.

In our world at the moment there is tons of stuff about global warming, animal rights, litter etc. But where does Christianity come into all this? When God made Adam, he sent him to work the Garden of Eden and take care of it. That didn't mean just growing all the plants; it meant that Adam would look after all the living creatures and animals in the garden too, and when Eve came, she would also. God gave humans this wonderful, beautiful world of His creation to look after and care for.

So although God definitely should come at number one in our lives, there is stuff he wants us to do. He has separate plans for everyone, and not everyone is going to become a big environmentalist or something, but still, in our day to day lives we should remember that everything around is was made with God's hands, and we were given the job of looking after it. Instead of destroying our world, we could be protecting it.

Prayer

Dear Lord,

Thank you that you made this wonderful, beautiful world for us. Thank you that everything belongs to you, and you made everything with a purpose. Please help me to care for our world and the creatures living in it. Please protect your amazing creation.

Amen