Skip to main content

The Earth Is The Lord's

             The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; (Psalm 24:1)

          One of the books I’m reading is The Freedom of Simplicity by Richard J. Foster. He begins with an Old Testament perspective that is reflected in the verse above from Psalms. He doesn’t use this verse, but works his way through a number of others to show that the world doesn’t belong to us and God’s perspective of our use of it is not ours - no matter which side of the current political divide we’re on.

          But it will do us no good to get off into the weeds of how we go about things. The moment we decide things belong to us or that God doesn’t belong in the picture, we bring competition into the matter. Competition is complication. Consider my oft-repeated example of a river. If you understand that the water is flowing in a particular direction and you go with it, things are pretty simple. When you decide to go upstream or directly across the river, things get a little more complicated and difficult. Or, consider a marriage. If you’re loyal to a spouse, things are comparatively simple. Add a few affairs (especially simultaneous affairs), and things get complicated. Segal’s Law tells us “A man with one watch knows what time it is. A man with two is never sure.”

          The first, most basic step to simplicity is to come to grips with reality. There are competing accounts of reality, so I’m going to suggest what I’ve suggested before.  Whatever you accept as the foundation, source, or power behind reality is your god, whether that god is God or natural, materialistic forces as explained by science. Whatever dictates what is true – that’s your god, even if you feel compelled to call it by some other name. I have insufficient evidence of any other god to turn away from the God described in the Old and New Testaments. But the point is that whichever god you choose should make other choices simple. The problem comes in when the god you claim is God is not the god you actively believe in. In other words, when the river flows south but you’re determined to travel west it without taking the current into account, without putting forth any effort. You can fight the current, build a bridge, or fly -but you can’t claim to follow the river simultaneously.

          If we follow God, we would do well to learn how He says we should live and to do so. That involves accepting the earth being His, not ours, and treating it according to the principles He teaches. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Saved?

  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:28-30) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ ” (Matthew 7:21-23) Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.” (Romans 3:4)   What conclusion do you draw when someone who was raised in a Christian family and church, perhaps even playing a significant role in a chur...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Shepherd!

                 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep . (John 10:14) God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” (Genesis 3:14) The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths     for his name’s sake. Even though I walk     through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil,     for you are with me; your rod and your staff,     they comfort me. (Psalm 23:1-4) For the Jews, it was politically incorrect to make claims about yourself as a teacher (or possibly as anything else.) Teachers were expected to take pride in the...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meditations of the Heart

  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm19:14)           As I started writing this post, I noted that the meditations of my heart are all over the mental landscape, from a hub where eight superhighways come together to a lunar or nuclear landscape. Do you see my error? The moment I read the word meditation , I think about thoughts. But what’s described here is the meditations of our hearts ; our wills.           While the meditations of our minds may be all over the place, the meditations of our wills tend to be a little more stable by the time we are adults. We no longer tend to want to pursue the ten separate careers we did in any given day as children. Part of this is humble acceptance of reality. We come to understand that we can’t do it all. I think another part of it is disappointmen...
Post a Comment
Read more