Two things I think we often forget, which make a big difference to our outlook are, first, that we live in God’s world, God’s creation and it has been entrusted to us to take care of, not to do what we want with. Second, that we are God’s creation, not our own creation. We are created by him and remain in existence because of him and we are indebted to him for everything.
There is a line that I have heard several times in commercials which says, ‘My world, my way.’ The commercial is trying to convince us that we should have what we want—their product—because it is all about us. ‘My world, my way.’ But this is not what the Lord teaches us. It is his world and his way. Believing and accepting that can make a big difference to how we live.
If the world has been entrusted to our care, then we have a duty to take care of it and maintain it for its owner, God, making it as fruitful and beautiful as possible. It is not ours to do what we want with, which unfortunately is often how it is being treated. We exploit all of its resources to suit us, regardless of how much damage it may do. It is interesting how many native tribes in different parts of the world were much more in tune with this than we are. They didn’t cut down all the trees in the forest for their own use, because if they did, they knew they would be burning themselves. They only killed the amount of animals they needed for their survival, to help keep the balance. They recognized that they had to care for the world.
It says in the creation story of Genesis, ‘The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden, to till it and take care of it’ (Gen 2: 15). You could add, ‘because it didn’t belong to the man, but to God.’ It was entrusted to his care. That is a reminder that the world has been entrusted to our care. If we live with that in mind, we will see the world differently and indeed many do.
Also, if we remember that we are God’s creation and indebted to God for everything, it will give us a different perspective. We continually hear that ‘this is my body and my life and I can do what I want with it.’ It is true that we can do whatever we want with our bodies and our life, but our actions do have consequences. If we remember that we have been given the gift of life, then it will help us to remember to use it well and respect it. How do we know what we are to do with it? by reading God’s word. What does God’s word tell us to do? It tells us to acknowledge and worship our Creator.
‘I am the Lord your God, you shall not have strange God’s before me.’
‘Do not misuse God’s holy name.’
‘Keep Sunday as a holy day, to acknowledge and worship God’, because everything comes from him.
‘Honor your father and your mother.’ It always breaks my heart when I hear of children who have cut their parents off, because they are angry with them for one reason or another. We may have our differences, sometimes very legitimate ones, but God tells us to honor our parents, ‘so that we may live long and prosper.’
‘Don’t kill, steal, cheat, or lie.’
The Lord is saying, ‘This is how I want you to live in my world.’
If we remember that each human being is God’s creation, then we will be unlikely to think that we have the right to kill a baby in the womb, or someone at the end of their life, because they have become inconvenient, or because we feel they shouldn’t have to suffer. When we do that, we are playing God.
The Commandments of God show us exactly what we are called to do and not to do. If we are God’s creation and we live in God’s creation, then we must keep asking God how He wants us to live in and take care of his creation. If someone entrusts us with something that is very valuable to them, we take it seriously and do everything we can to protect it, so that when they ask for it back, we can return it in the same condition if not better, because it is an honor to be entrusted with it.
There are so many arguments that we are constantly presented with which tell us that we should be able to determine the outcome of this and that. If we want to be faithful to God and do what is right by God—which probably all of us here do—then we keep going back to God’s word, to ask what God wants us to do.
I am reading a commentary on the Bible, by the Jewish scholar Dennis Prager. His commentaries on the Scriptures are fascinating, because the Jewish people will see things from a slightly different perspective. One thing he says is that if I really believe the Scriptures are God’s word, then when I come to a part I don’t understand, or which doesn’t seem to make sense in today’s culture, I will say that the Scriptures are right, but I don’t understand them, as opposed to, the Scriptures must be wrong because they don’t seem to make sense in today's culture. Ask yourself, do you really believe the Scriptures are God’s word? If I do, then I need to listen to them and take them seriously.
You may argue that all your success is your own doing, because you worked hard. ‘I have no one to thank but myself.’ Thank God if you have done well, but remember who gave you the intelligence, the education, the opportunities, the physical health, the motivation. All these things have been given to us as a gift and we are meant to use them, but remember where they come from to start with.
‘Whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.’ (1 Cor 10:31)
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