Ruminations and Ramifications

The world and everything in it.

I hit the ground running on my first day back. I had a two hour meeting about accessibility codes with the developer in the afternoon.

Now, many would probably groan and think that is the worst possible way to spend the first day back on the job. But really, it was the better thing to come back to. I figured I could A) look at my desk and wonder "now, where was I?" or B) attend code meetings and field questions left and right. The second sure makes me feel much more useful.

This morning's reading in the Psalms brought something to mind.

Psalm 65:9 - 13
9You visit the earth and cause it to overflow;
You greatly enrich it;
The stream of God is full of water;
You prepare their grain, for thus You prepare the earth.
10You water its furrows abundantly,
You settle its ridges,
You soften it with showers,
You bless its growth.
11You have crowned the year with Your bounty,
And Your paths drip with fatness.
12The pastures of the wilderness drip,
And the hills gird themselves with rejoicing.
13The meadows are clothed with flocks
And the valleys are covered with grain;
They shout for joy, yes, they sing.

I reflected on the current trend among evangelicals called "Creation Care". Heard of it? The premise is that we are to be stewards of the earth. It's the evangelical response to being "green" without being "liberal". Or is it? Without the foundation of the gospel, how can we separate our responsibility to be stewards of what we have without relying on the strength of our own right hand to sustain us? It's one thing to work diligently. It's quite another to assume that we are left alone to battle the wild untamed forces of nature in order to survive. God's word assures us that material increase on this earth is a result of His blessing on our work, not a result of our work and our work alone. Without a right view of God, can we really have a right view of the earth?

I remember at one time looking at the mountains and hills as a sort of geological "record". I had some Biblical influence. I remember thinking "now, what about the Great Flood caused this to happen?" But the more I read the Word, and take it at face value, the more I understand. "God carved that valley, He lifted those mountains up and set them firmly in place. His hand smoothed over the rolling hills, and leveled the plain."

Finally, I was looking over some pictures I took during a trip to Oklahoma a few years ago when contemplating a job offer that would take me back to Norman, Oklahoma. I sat for a few hours with my Bible on the top of a flat rock high on the top of a "mountain" in the Wichitas. It was a Friday, and a family was taking a little tour around the edge of the mountain. As they came near where I was sitting and walked to the edge of the rocks to look down, one little boy exclaimed, "Look what God made!"

Yep. Seems he had a better understanding than I.

posted by Marcian @ 10:34 AM