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TAKING RESPONSIBILITY, TAKING CARE GENESIS 1:26-31

REFLECTION

“Taking responsibility, taking care” is the theme for our reflection. Taking responsibility and taking care means stewardship. It is means to be placed in a position to manage resources and be accountable for same. We shall reflect on the fact that humanity was created to be the beneficiary of God’s creation. Again He created humanity to take responsibility or care of His creation. In other words, taking responsibility or taking care of God’s creations is our mutual divine calling or assignment.

God made us stewards or caretakers of His creation when He said “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground…God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” (Genesis 1:26,28)”. Dear friend, God created everything for His glory and the enjoyment of humanity. The only responsibility or obligation of humanity is to care for God’s creation, hence the command “rule over” and “subdue it”. The command “to rule over and “subdue” creation must be done within God’s nature of creativity, nurturing, sustenance and life-giving. God is our creator, ruler and subduer yet we experience His constant love and care as His creation. Similarly, we are called upon to responsibly rule and subdue the whole of creation for our benefits and sustenance and for the glory of God. The church is called to remind humanity of their divine obligation as stewards of God’s creation. Caring for creation will also make the environment safe for posterity since we have been given the mandate to be fruitful and increase in number. Our population or number will decrease if we fail to care for God’s creation. There is a current report in Ghana indicating that water and fish from illegal mining areas are no longer safe for consumption since they contain poisonous substances being used for mining activities. We must all work together to safeguard our environment and its inhabitants for our own safety and sustenance.

Again, we must take responsibility or care of God’s creation because we depend on it for food, water, shelter and oxygen. For instance, for our food and nutritional needs, “…God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food. ” And it was so” (Genesis 1:29-30) Our forest and its animals must be protected and managed in a manner that will be of great value or benefit to us and the sustainability of the ecosystem. We are to preach and lawfully protest against deforestation, the overuse of harmful chemicals in farming which destroys some green plants that are of nutritional and medicinal value and renders them poisonous for human or animal consumption. We must have public engagement or conversations about the burning of our forest and any other illegal activity that harms or destroys our forest or green vegetation. Let us remember that “God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.” (Genesis 1:31), It is our responsibility to sustain, manage and wisely use the good things God has created for our use, and this calls for responsible stewardship of the environment. 

In summary, we have discovered God created human beings to be the ultimate beneficiaries of creation. Again, He has made human beings stewards of His creation, therefore we must take responsibility or care of God’s creation even as we benefit or rely on it for our survival.

PRAYER

God, our creator and sustainer, we are grateful to You for the gift of life, creation and the stewardship responsibility placed upon us. We humbly pray that You Grant us the strength, wisdom and the collective will to responsibly rule over and subdue that which you have mutually entrusted into our care. Amen.