He turned rivers into a desert, flowing springs into thirsty ground, and fruitful land into a salt waste, because of the wickedness of those who lived there. – Psalm 107:33-34

Today’s Scripture Reading (July 18, 2019): Psalm 107

President Trump claims that the air is clearer and the water is purer than it has been in years. And all of this was achieved by repealing several laws designed to curb our tendency to pollute and desecrate our environment. It sounds almost too good to be true. And his opponents argue that it is. The environment is continuing to deteriorate at an unprecedented rate, and if something is not done soon, well, it may be too late for life on this planet. Which leaves the average person wondering who is telling the truth?

Often, the story told by our own eyes delivers a condemnation on how we live. As I walk through my neighborhood, the garbage that people have tossed onto the ground rather than holding to place in a trash receptacle continues to increase. To a certain extent, we are lessening the hold that fossil fuels have had on us for the past century and finding cleaner ways to power our lives, but that progress is slow. Severe weather seems to be on the increase. Devastating floods in some areas balance off the severe droughts that exist in other places. The weather would seem to be growing more and more unpredictable and out of control. And right now, we do not have the answer.

The author of Psalm 107 seems to have had a view into our times. I believe that care of our planet was one of the jobs that God gave to the ones created in his image way back in the Garden of Eden. Adam named and cared for all of the animals. One form of wickedness is to act as if we don’t have a responsibility to care for our world and the plants and animals with whom we share this planet, which are all the direct creation of God. Maybe in the Christian Church, we are the most guilty of this, treating the earth as if it was a disposable item which, when things get bad enough, will be replaced by a heavenly home that will not only be much better but also permanent, existing forever in a way that the earth never could. Or possibly it is that we believe that God will get us out of this mess, much like a spoiled child who thinks that Dad will just replace the toys he has broken.

Can God fix what we have destroyed? Most definitely. Will he? I don’t think so. The state of the earth is a lesson that he is teaching us. And the Psalmist argues that rivers drying up and land that once grew food now being laid to waste is a result of our own disobedience. I get it, living in a way that destroys the planet is easier. But since when did easy become right? 

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 111 & 112