It’s Not Easy Being Green

And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. Genesis 1:31a (KJV)

Recently my husband and I moved in with a family. Many would call them tree-huggers, and at least one is proud to bear the name. It was strange at first: rules about what to throw away and what to recycle; cleaning without store-bought chemical cleaners; conserving energy and water in ways I had never thought about before. Around the house we jokingly refer to “environmental police” and the “Secretary of ‘What’s that Doing in the Trash?’”

We work a one-acre, organically grown garden—no chemical fertilizers, no pesticides. I now know one of life’s great joys: eradicating squash bugs by hand! It is grueling. Sometimes I long to purchase my own pesticides and apply them in secret.

In the environmental realm, sin can be subtle. But some age-old issues remain: waste, laziness, greed. Enter the serpent’s voice: God said you were to subdue the earth. It is easy to throw everything away instead of recycling, to use pesticides for bug control, or even to litter instead of finding a trashcan. It is easy to do the convenient thing. And for the sake of convenience, we subdue the earth at the earth’s expense.

This may seem an unusual subject for devotion. Though I do not consider myself a tree hugger, I do believe that this is our Father’s world. He created it, glories in it, and gave us dominion over it. We have a responsibility to honor our Creator by being good stewards of the resources He has provided.

Father, thank You for entrusting us with this magnificent world You have made. Help us to manifest Your heart as we live, caring for what You care about, too.

© 2010 Katherine A. Fuller