Our Bible verse for today: “Whatever you do, do it from the heart, as something done for the Lord and not for people.” Colossians 3:23 (CSB)
Our thought for today: “Take good care of it for God.”
This morning I want to spend a little more time thinking about the importance of taking proper care of the things that belong to God (which is everything). Continuing our theme from yesterday of this being my Father’s world, I would like to share with you several examples of people who have determined in their hearts to serve God well by taking care of what is His.
Here at Oak Hill Baptist Church the man who serves as our custodian has a great attitude. He is very detail oriented, he works hard, and our buildings have never been so clean. He doesn’t just do basic cleaning either (although that’s all we pay him for). He straightens the pictures on the walls; he does maintenance projects; he goes shopping for supplies; he cares for the church van; he does pretty much anything that needs to be done, and he goes over and above in his efforts to make sure our facilities are extremely well cared for. His attitude is like that, “These buildings belong to my Father and I will do everything I can to take excellent care of them.”
Our church secretary approaches her duties with the same attitude. She is like a mother hen watching over the affairs of the church, keeping things organized, and making sure nothing falls through the cracks. She counts it a privilege to care for God’s church.
We also have a great Treasurer and Finance Committee. God has blessed our church with abundant finances, more than a church our size would normally have. However, even though there is plenty of money, our Treasurer and Finance Committee members don’t allow it to be used in a casual or frivolous manner. The money belongs to God and they are committed to ensuring it is used well. Our Building and Grounds Committee applies the same attitude to their watch-care over all of our buildings and property, and for the same reason, it all belongs to God.
That kind of conscientiousness and protective attitude is the kind of thinking all of us need to bring to the subject of creation care. The earth and all that is in it belongs to our Father. This is His world. This is His earth. Our thinking should be, “This earth belongs to my Father and I’m passionate about taking care of it for Him.”
I encourage you to feel possessive of the earth and protective of it, because it belongs to our Father in heaven and He has charged all of us take good care of it.
Oak Hill Baptist Church