By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.
This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created.
When Lord God made the earth and the heavens- - and no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth and no plant of the field had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no man to work the ground, but streams come up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground - - the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man become a living being.
Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, In Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. And the Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground - - trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters. The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. (The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin and onyx are also there.) The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush. The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Asshur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.
The Lord God took the man and put him in Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.(Genesis 2 : 1 - 15)
In his historical novel Chesapeake, James Michener tells the story of multiple generations living near a marsh. One character, Chris Pflaum, is introduced as a restless 13-year-old sitting in class waiting for summer break. But when the teacher reads a poem by Sidney Lanier, the boy’s heart is stirred.
As the marsh-hen secretly builds on the watery sod,
Behold I will build me a nest on the greatness of God:
I will fly in the greatness of God as the marsh-hen flies.
In the freedom that fills all the space
‘twixt the marsh and the skies.
Behold I will build me a nest on the greatness of God:
I will fly in the greatness of God as the marsh-hen flies.
In the freedom that fills all the space
‘twixt the marsh and the skies.
When Chris grew up, this poem motivated him to work tirelessly to preserve the precious wetlands and the wildlife he loved.
The poem’s words stir the heart because they use nature as a springboard of praise to the Creator. But, unfortunately, our living planet can be neglected and exploited. God’s mandate to Adam has been passed on to all believers. “The LORD God … put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it” (Gen. 2 : 15). The words tend and keep mean “to cultivate as servants.”
We are to care for and guard God’s creation as responsible stewards. - - Dennis Fisher
The natural world that God has made must not be used at whim, We serve as stewards of His earth, Responsible to Him. - - D. De Haan
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To mistreat God’s creation is to offend the Creator
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