Common Good

Common Good

Stewarding Natural Resources

Scripture References

Read First

Old Testament

Genesis 1:26-2:15

26 God said, “Let’s make man in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

1 The heavens, the earth, and all their vast array were finished.

2 On the seventh day God finished his work which he had done; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done.

Read 13 more verses

3 God blessed the seventh day, and made it holy, because he rested in it from all his work of creation which he had done.

4 This is the history of the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens.

5 No plant of the field was yet in the earth, and no herb of the field had yet sprung up; for the LORD God had not caused it to rain on the earth. There was not a man to till the ground,

6 but a mist went up from the earth, and watered the whole surface of the ground.

7 The LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

8 The LORD God planted a garden eastward, in Eden, and there he put the man whom he had formed.

9 Out of the ground the LORD God made every tree to grow that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food, including the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

10 A river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it was parted, and became the source of four rivers.

11 The name of the first is Pishon: it flows through the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold;

12 and the gold of that land is good. Bdellium and onyx stone are also there.

13 The name of the second river is Gihon. It is the same river that flows through the whole land of Cush.

14 The name of the third river is Hiddekel. This is the one which flows in front of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates.

15 The LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate and keep it.

New Testament

Romans 8:19-23

19 For the creation waits with eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed.

20 For the creation was subjected to vanity, not of its own will, but because of him who subjected it, in hope

21 that the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of decay into the liberty of the glory of the children of God.

Read 2 more verses

22 For we know that the whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now.

23 Not only so, but ourselves also, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for adoption, the redemption of our body.

Thought for the Day

Genesis places humanity in a garden, not as a consumer but as a caretaker. We are given authority, yes, but it is the authority of service. The work is dignifying: to tend and to keep. The world is given as gift, and gift is meant to be received with reverence.

To steward natural resources, then, is not to worship nature, nor to treat it as a quarry. It is to practise restraint and gratitude; to remember that the land, the sea, and the air are not simply ‘inputs’ but part of the neighbour God has placed near us.

Show 106 more words

Paul, writing to a church in a groaning world, dares to say creation is waiting. It longs for the revealing of God’s children; it labours with birth pains. The ache in the earth is not outside the story of redemption. Christians are taught to hope not only for souls, but for the renewal of all things. We groan too, but we groan with the firstfruits of the Spirit.

Lord, teach us to handle your world gently. Give wisdom to those who farm, fish, build, mine, legislate, and conserve. And make your Church a people who can repent of waste, rejoice in beauty, and hope without denial.

Prayer Points

Respond
  • Creator God, forgive us for wastefulness and careless extraction.
  • Give wisdom to policymakers and industries stewarding land, water, forests, and energy.
  • Protect communities most harmed by pollution, scarcity, and climate disruption.
Show 2 more prayer points
  • Strengthen those working for conservation, sustainable farming, and clean technologies.
  • Teach your Church gratitude, restraint, and hopeful endurance.