Saturday, June 12, 2010

Take Care of God's World

"for everything in heaven and earth is yours."

-- 1 Chronicles 29:11b

The Gulf Oil Spill has dominated the news for almost two months. The news, it seems, gets worse with each passing day. We're concerned about white beaches and jobs and economic impact. But there is one question that keeps running through my mind: What are we doing to this beautiful world God created?

For so long now we've taken and taken and taken. We've used what we wanted, cast aside anything left and pretty much done what we pleased. We haven't seemed to care about trash in the oceans or temperature changes or air pollution. "Tree huggers" bring a great many laughs but not too many people take them seriously. Maybe we should.

I understand that one day Jesus will return and we'll have a new world. But none of knows when that will be. Besides, God gave us this world to tend while we are here. And, frankly, we're doing a really lousy job of it.

I read today about all the oil drilling that takes place and only this one major accident. That's supposed to make me feel better? Tell that to the dead animals, the fishermen whose livelihood may be destroyed and the families who have trekked to the gulf beaches for generations. It could be years before the gulf recovers -- if it recovers.

It's especially horrifying to hear about the rules that weren't followed. The checks that weren't run. The emphasis on making money instead of doing it right no matter the cost. We weren't paying attention and look what happened to God's world.

We have an obligation to do all we can to protect this world we live in. Part of that is paying attention. I'm just as guilty as everyone else. I get caught up in my own day-to-day life and don't get involved when maybe I should. I got a reminder from scripture today. The Bible is good at that. It has a way of opening your eyes when you didn't even know they were closed. I won't close them again. There's too much at stake. God gave us a beautiful planet. We need to treat it like what it is -- His creation.