Common Good

Common Good

Energy for the Common Good

Scripture References

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Old Testament

Deuteronomy 8:7-18

7 For the LORD your God brings you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of springs, and underground water flowing into valleys and hills;

8 a land of wheat, barley, vines, fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of olive trees and honey;

9 a land in which you shall eat bread without scarcity, you shall not lack anything in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you may dig copper.

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10 You shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land which he has given you.

11 Beware lest you forget the LORD your God, in not keeping his commandments, his ordinances, and his statutes, which I command you today;

12 lest, when you have eaten and are full, and have built fine houses and lived in them;

13 and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold is multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied;

14 then your heart might be lifted up, and you forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage;

15 who led you through the great and terrible wilderness, with venomous snakes and scorpions, and thirsty ground where there was no water; who poured water for you out of the rock of flint;

16 who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers didn’t know, that he might humble you, and that he might prove you, to do you good at your latter end;

17 and lest you say in your heart, “My power and the might of my hand has gotten me this wealth.”

18 But you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he swore to your fathers, as it is today.

New Testament

Acts 17:24-28

24 The God who made the world and all things in it, he, being Lord of heaven and earth, doesn’t dwell in temples made with hands.

25 He isn’t served by men’s hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he himself gives to all life and breath and all things.

26 He made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the surface of the earth, having determined appointed seasons and the boundaries of their dwellings,

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27 that they should seek the Lord, if perhaps they might reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.

28 ‘For in him we live, move, and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also his offspring.’

Thought for the Day

Deuteronomy speaks like a loving warning to a people about to flourish. You will eat and be satisfied; you will bless the LORD for a good land. Then comes the danger: forgetfulness. The gift can be mistaken for achievement, and the heart can quietly say, ‘My power has got me this wealth.’

Paul, preaching in Athens, takes us back even further: God made the world and gives to all life and breath and everything. We live, move, and have our being in him. The world is not raw material waiting to be mastered; it is held, moment by moment, by God’s generosity.

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Energy for the common good begins with gratitude and ends with restraint. What powers our homes and industries is never merely technical; it shapes health, work, conflict, and peace. When energy is scarce or expensive, it is the frail who shiver first. Scripture does not give an energy policy, but it does re-order our loves: away from pride and towards stewardship.

Lord, keep us from arrogance when we are comfortable. Give wisdom to those who plan, generate, regulate, and distribute. Teach us to receive your gifts with thanksgiving, and to use them in ways that bless our neighbours rather than burden them.

Prayer Points

Respond
  • Lord, forgive us for forgetting you when we are well supplied.
  • Give wisdom to those stewarding energy systems, grids, and infrastructure.
  • Protect households facing cold, debt, or insecurity through energy poverty.
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  • Guide nations away from conflict over resources and towards peaceable cooperation.
  • Teach your Church gratitude, restraint, and practical neighbour-love.