A righteous man cares for the needs of his animals, but the kindest acts of the
wicked are cruel. ~Proverbs 12:10
Then, God said, “Let us make man in our image, in Our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the earth.” So, God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created Him; male and female He created them…. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” ~Genesis 1:26-28
You made man a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You made him ruler over the works of Your hands; You put everything under his feet: all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the sea. O LORD, our LORD, how majestic is Your Name in all the earth! ~Psalm 8:5-9
The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subject to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the Will of the One who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pangs of childbirth right up to the present time. ~Romans 8:19-22
If any of you have ever been involved in rescuing an animal, then you know firsthand just how cruel some people can be. Our Larry with his donkeys comes to mind. The Taylors also have dogs that were rescued. All of our cats have been rescues, though the two we have now seem to have come from the worst circumstances of any of the cats that we’ve lived with.
It is hard to comprehend the cruelty some people are capable of. Our hearts ache when we hear about the mistreatment of animals. This too was never meant to be. The righteous care for the “NEEDS,” of their animals. When we read in Genesis that God charged Adam with ruling over all creation, we need to remember what kind of ruler God Himself is and then it is natural to assume that He was calling Adam to follow in His footsteps.
We know that God, our Father, loves all He has made. In Christ, we see a demonstration of how we are to rule. It’s called servant leadership. God is calling Adam, and us in turn, to also love all He has made and serve it well. Subdue doesn’t mean “use for our pleasure,” but to lovingly coax the best out of all of creation the way that God lovingly and patiently coaxes the best out of us.
As an illustration, I’d like to share with you a little bit about our Bella. Last Spring, while my grand-daughter Maddie and I were on the playground, we noticed movement in a pile of leaves. As we watched, out popped a scrawny cat who appeared to be friendly. Well, we both went to Kathy to see about bringing her home. Liz started feeding her outside to build trust.
It took a few weeks, but eventually, Bella became a part of our household. As we would soon learn, however, that was the easy part. She did not trust people. Spaying her helped calm her nerves by changing her hormones balances. But that wasn’t easy for the vet. On her first visit she wildly screamed, hissed, scratched and bit. She did not like being handled at all! On her second visit the vet sedated her by wrapping saran around her carrier and gassing her before he even touched her! This tells us how cruelly she was treated by other humans. At home Kathy and I would spend a lot of time just sitting near her food dish so that she could get used to us. Regular feeding helped too, but we just had to be patient and consistent for her to learn that we could be trusted.
Even now, she has her moments, she now likes to be petted, but it’s very easy to rub her the wrong way and snap! Watch out for those claws! But the reward for us is that she is becoming a very sensitive, loving animal who is very tuned into emotions and prayers and, she loves music. She never used to come near me, and I didn’t trust her anyway. But now she climbs up on top of me and pushes her head into my chin when she wants to be petted. And she sits so quietly, enjoying every moment. She is now my favorite of any cat we have had.
I believe that that is the kind of subduing, servant leadership God was hoping for from man, for all His creation. He never intended for animals to be afraid of man, or to be abused. All creation is groaning under our sin. In the beginning, I do not believe that animals were afraid of us. We enjoyed each other’s company. But our sin has placed a barrier not only between us and God, but between us and all creation. The wicked even take it further and enjoy cruelty toward creation, but the righteous, are interested in restoring our relationship with creation the way that God intended it to be.
Creation groans, as we do, under the curse of sin. It also shares our longing to be restored. When all is restored, we will enjoy each other again without fear! “The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand into the viper’s nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on all My holy mountain, and the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as waters cover the earth.” (Isaiah 11:6-9)
We often talk about being Christ’s hands and feet to the people around us, but the righteous also care for all He has made out of love for Him.
Prayer: Fallen as it is, all creation is still beautiful and wonderful! I am amazed by the variety of Your creative work in the world and by its vastness and complexity. The improbability of all this happening by accident was a major influence that led me to believe there must be a God who designed it all. That was my first step into meeting you through the gospel of Jesus Christ. That's another reason I thank You for the care and love you display all over the Universe. The heaven's declare Your glory! I believe! Now Lord, help me to live so as to support and serve all that you have entrusted to me as my share in humanity's responsibility to care for creation. In Jesus' name, amen.
Song: This Is My Father’s World and All Things Bright and Beautiful
Then, God said, “Let us make man in our image, in Our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the earth.” So, God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created Him; male and female He created them…. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” ~Genesis 1:26-28
You made man a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You made him ruler over the works of Your hands; You put everything under his feet: all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the sea. O LORD, our LORD, how majestic is Your Name in all the earth! ~Psalm 8:5-9
The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subject to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the Will of the One who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pangs of childbirth right up to the present time. ~Romans 8:19-22
If any of you have ever been involved in rescuing an animal, then you know firsthand just how cruel some people can be. Our Larry with his donkeys comes to mind. The Taylors also have dogs that were rescued. All of our cats have been rescues, though the two we have now seem to have come from the worst circumstances of any of the cats that we’ve lived with.
It is hard to comprehend the cruelty some people are capable of. Our hearts ache when we hear about the mistreatment of animals. This too was never meant to be. The righteous care for the “NEEDS,” of their animals. When we read in Genesis that God charged Adam with ruling over all creation, we need to remember what kind of ruler God Himself is and then it is natural to assume that He was calling Adam to follow in His footsteps.
We know that God, our Father, loves all He has made. In Christ, we see a demonstration of how we are to rule. It’s called servant leadership. God is calling Adam, and us in turn, to also love all He has made and serve it well. Subdue doesn’t mean “use for our pleasure,” but to lovingly coax the best out of all of creation the way that God lovingly and patiently coaxes the best out of us.
As an illustration, I’d like to share with you a little bit about our Bella. Last Spring, while my grand-daughter Maddie and I were on the playground, we noticed movement in a pile of leaves. As we watched, out popped a scrawny cat who appeared to be friendly. Well, we both went to Kathy to see about bringing her home. Liz started feeding her outside to build trust.
It took a few weeks, but eventually, Bella became a part of our household. As we would soon learn, however, that was the easy part. She did not trust people. Spaying her helped calm her nerves by changing her hormones balances. But that wasn’t easy for the vet. On her first visit she wildly screamed, hissed, scratched and bit. She did not like being handled at all! On her second visit the vet sedated her by wrapping saran around her carrier and gassing her before he even touched her! This tells us how cruelly she was treated by other humans. At home Kathy and I would spend a lot of time just sitting near her food dish so that she could get used to us. Regular feeding helped too, but we just had to be patient and consistent for her to learn that we could be trusted.
Even now, she has her moments, she now likes to be petted, but it’s very easy to rub her the wrong way and snap! Watch out for those claws! But the reward for us is that she is becoming a very sensitive, loving animal who is very tuned into emotions and prayers and, she loves music. She never used to come near me, and I didn’t trust her anyway. But now she climbs up on top of me and pushes her head into my chin when she wants to be petted. And she sits so quietly, enjoying every moment. She is now my favorite of any cat we have had.
I believe that that is the kind of subduing, servant leadership God was hoping for from man, for all His creation. He never intended for animals to be afraid of man, or to be abused. All creation is groaning under our sin. In the beginning, I do not believe that animals were afraid of us. We enjoyed each other’s company. But our sin has placed a barrier not only between us and God, but between us and all creation. The wicked even take it further and enjoy cruelty toward creation, but the righteous, are interested in restoring our relationship with creation the way that God intended it to be.
Creation groans, as we do, under the curse of sin. It also shares our longing to be restored. When all is restored, we will enjoy each other again without fear! “The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand into the viper’s nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on all My holy mountain, and the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as waters cover the earth.” (Isaiah 11:6-9)
We often talk about being Christ’s hands and feet to the people around us, but the righteous also care for all He has made out of love for Him.
Prayer: Fallen as it is, all creation is still beautiful and wonderful! I am amazed by the variety of Your creative work in the world and by its vastness and complexity. The improbability of all this happening by accident was a major influence that led me to believe there must be a God who designed it all. That was my first step into meeting you through the gospel of Jesus Christ. That's another reason I thank You for the care and love you display all over the Universe. The heaven's declare Your glory! I believe! Now Lord, help me to live so as to support and serve all that you have entrusted to me as my share in humanity's responsibility to care for creation. In Jesus' name, amen.
Song: This Is My Father’s World and All Things Bright and Beautiful
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