Earth Day

I bet most of you are surprised to see that I’m writing about Earth Day today.  Now, I’m no tree hugger, or granola- cruncher, but I think there’s something to be said about protecting the environment.  How does a TrueMan do that?

I recommend that we look at the Book of Genesis to get a foundation for this.  Genesis 2:15 “The Lord God then took the man and settled him in the garden of Eden, to cultivate and care for it.”  To cultivate and to care for it – in Hebrew, to SHAMAR (guard).  Everything in the garden (creation) was given to Adam to protect and defend it.  Yes, this included the woman (Eve) and the animals, but it also included the land and plants.  See, God wanted Adam to take responsibility for his surroundings.  Ask any farmer, and they’ll tell you that the land produces more bounty if you take care of it.  Adam’s job was to see to it that the land produced a large bounty.

The same goes for us now.  God expects that we shamar our gardens (our families, our land, our life, our Church).  He expects that we protect and defend all that is around us, therefore, we must protect our earth.  Personally, I’m not going to stop driving my eight cylinder Chevy truck, but what I will do is continue to use cloth diapers and homemade bio-degradable baby wipes.  I’ll continue to throw away my trash in a can instead of littering the side of the highways.  I will instill in my children how to respect the earth.  When I camp, I protect the fire from spreading.  When I see trash, I pick it up.  I’ve recently started using CFL bulbs around the house and just bought a bunch of new ones for the remaining lights.  It’s the little things that add up and really count.

Think about how you can protect the earth in your own little way.  If we all do it just a little bit, it’ll add up to some big changes.

Man up!