Should A Christian Care About Our Planet?
‘But ask the beasts, and they will teach you; the birds of the heavens and they will tell you, or the bushes of the earth and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you. Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind.’ Job 12:7-10
The Lord God gave us this planet and every living thing upon it is ‘in his hand’. We are the custodians of his creation and it is our Christian duty to take care of this beautiful Earth with which we have been blessed.
‘The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work and keep it.’ Genesis 2:15
We can argue about climate change. There’s a whole bunch of scientists out there who believe that the situation is very, very serious, but maybe you don’t believe them. This is what the United Nations Secretary General had to say:
‘We are in the fight of our lives and we are losing…Greenhouse gas emissions keep growing, global temperatures keep rising and our planet is fast approaching tipping points that will make climate chaos irreversible.’
His words echo those of the prophet Jeremiah.
‘And I brought you into a plentiful land to enjoy its fruits and its good things. But when you came in, you defiled my land and made my heritage an abomination.’ Jeremiah 2:7
It is our duty, as Christians, to care about our ‘heritage’, our God given planet. So, whatever your views on the politics of this, whether you believe that the whole climate change thing is just a media fad, or not, as a Christian, you should still ensure that the way that you live your life does as little harm to God’s Earth as possible. That means that you should make careful choices about the products that you buy and the way that you choose to travel. Perhaps you could get involved with community garden projects or help with beach cleanups and litter picking. Try to recycle, reduce your plastic consumption and avoid ‘fast fashion’. Talk to God about your lifestyle, does it need to change?
Bible verses about water
Without water there would be no life on this Earth and yet how casually do we treat the miracle of clean water; we turn on the tap and out it comes. Except that around 2 million Americans don’t have access to clean water and worldwide the figure is about 771 million. The Bible frequently refers to water: it symbolizes faith, salvation and life.
‘The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and he will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.’ Isaiah 58:11
We are baptized with water, its purity symbolizes a washing away of sins.
‘Jesus answered, “Truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God.’ John 3:5
When we pollute the water of our planet we are not just damaging our environment, we are committing a sin in the eyes of God.
