Day 57: All of Creation is Cherished
Read: Genesis 8:1-5
The tension throughout the last few chapters of Genesis has led up to this point. Back in chapter 6, God made a covenant with Noah where He planned to destroy humanity as judgment for their sins. But, He was going to deliver Noah, his wife, his sons, their spouses and two of each animal. And God did, in fact, follow through with His promise.
There were 7 days of waiting, followed by 40 days of the Flood. This is significant because the numbers 7 and 40 are both symbolic. The number 7 is the foundational number in God’s word. For example: 7 is the number of completeness and perfection, the earth was created in 7 days, Jesus is known for giving His 7 parables, etc.
While the number 7 is foundational, the number 40 in the Bible is usually associated with trials. Jesus wandered in the desert for 40 days and 40 nights, Moses and his people roamed in the desert for 40 years before God brought them into the promised land, etc. If you notice, these are all different trials people had to go through – similarly to the Flood.
As the Flood happened, God remembered Noah and all the beasts and livestock (Genesis 8:1). God did not forget about them! His love and mercy are relentless. The heavens ceased to pour down rain and the tops of the mountains were starting to become visible again!
This is a great illustration of what is happening in the world today. The sin in our lives is drowning us, and we need God to stop us and save us from ourselves. Our sin is causing more and more of a mess, and only God can save us from it. Depravity, or in other words, a man’s sinful nature, can only be removed by the cleansing and washing of the Son, through the Father, by the Holy Spirit. Only God can clean up this mess we made.
He does not forget about His creation, and neither should we. We need to take care of our bodies. This means treating our body with love and feeding it the nutrients it needs! Love the skin you were given but at the same time, be the healthiest version that you can be. Honor the Lord by taking care of your body. You only get one so treat it right.
Along with that, we must take care of the earth! God gave Adam dominion over the earth and everything in it. In this same way, we must also govern and respect it. We can do this in so many ways! We can do this by reducing, reusing, and recycling. We can try to minimize our waste by thinking about what we buy and whose hands it passed through before our own. But most importantly, we can spend time in nature and thank God for His creation that we get to enjoy.
One of the biggest things we can take away from this is that we need to respect God’s most important creation, which doesn’t stop with you, it’s also the people around you. Treating others with dignity, love, and respect, even those who you don’t agree with politically, morally, or theologically. God tells us to love our enemies; to pray for those who persecute us (Matt 5:43). We are called to do that.
Make a list of three things you can do this week to improve on in order to love God’s creation more. Then, look at this list and actively change things in your life to make this possible. Ask God to help you with this. Tell your friends about these goals and challenge them to do the same.