Honoring Our Heavenly Father
“The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it…” Psalm 24:1
I’ve been singing hymns all my life; I love them! Not surprisingly, some of my favorite hymns speak of God’s role as Creator. Some of these include “Great Is Thy Faithfulness,” “Morning Has Broken,” “How Great Thou Art,” “For the Beauty of the Earth,” and “Fairest Lord Jesus.” This morning the chancel choir sang another one of my favorites, “This Is My Father’s World.”
Here are the first two verses of this beautiful hymn written by Maltbie Babcock: “This is my Father’s world, and to my listening ears all nature sings and round me rings the music of the spheres. This is my Father’s world, I rest me in the thought of rocks and trees of skies and seas; His hands the wonders wrought. This is my Father’s world, the birds their carols raise, the morning light, the lily white, declare their Maker’s praise. This is my Father’s world: He shines in all that’s fair; in the rustling grass I hear Him pass, He speaks to me everywhere.”
I love the message of this hymn. Like the Psalmist the hymnist reminds us that the earth is the Lords. We’re also reminded that all of Creation joins together in offering God praise. Furthermore, we are reminded that God does, indeed, speak to us in the world that He has made.
Being Father’s Day I can’t help but wonder how honored God the Father must feel today when it comes to the way we have cared for His Creation. As a child I was taught to respect the things that belonged to my Dad. I understood that these things were his, not mine. I also knew that if I used something that belonged to my father that I had better take very good care of it.
If we know to respect our earthly father’s belongings you would think that we would also know to respect our heavenly Father’s belongings. One way we can honor and show respect for God on Father’s Day, and the rest of the year, is by taking good care of that which belongs to Him—the earth.
–Chuck
(The image above was taken at Monument Valley.)
P.S. Rob Sheppard has a new blog that can be found at www.natureandphotography.com. Make sure to check it out!