My computer informed me that today is Earth Day.  These verses of scripture immediately came to mind. “The earth is the LORD’S, and everything in it. The world and all its people belong to him.” (Psalm 24:1) “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it.” (1 Corinthians 10:26)  There you have it, not once but twice in both Old and New Testaments.  As I look out my window today, we could not be having a more beautiful Earth Day.  Every direction I look is a display of God’s beautiful creation.  The sunlight glistens like diamonds off the water on our lake. The newly budded leaves on the trees that seemed to return overnight are a testimony of life and beauty. At least ten species of birds, each intricate in design, feast from the bird feeders behind my house.The songs God appropriated to each specific feathered beauty composes a choir for my listening pleasure.  In silent beauty a yellow butterfly flutters into and out of the scene. The sky is a color of blue for which no crayon exists. God created all this and it belongs to Him, and each day we are privileged to exist in these exquisite surroundings.  Look up from your cell phone today, notice your surroundings as you sit impatiently at a red light or in traffic jam. Allow the masterpiece God has painted today to give you pause to praise Him and center your thoughts on His love for you.

     Now there is a part two to the verses above.  Not just the earth , but all its people belong to him. All means all, not just the people who go to church, the people who live in nice houses, the people who have seem to have it all together.  All means the ones of us who have messed up lives, addictions, fractured families, and a list of failures a mile long.  But wait, truth be told, what seems to be two very different groups of people in the above two sentences are actually the same. We are ALL sinners saved by grace no matter who we are, where we live, or what we have done or not done. Praise God, that what he sees is our heart. What he sees is the righteousness of Christ bestowed on us if we have asked forgiveness and invited Jesus to be Lord and Savior of our lives.  What He sees is the masterpiece that we are in His sight. What is left for us to do but rejoice in belonging to Him?  “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called the children of God. And that is what we are!” (1 John 3:1) 

     I do realize that I have taken liberties by loosely adapting the meaning Earth Day to my own liking. Thanks for rolling with me on that!  Now go rejoice in God’s creation and and even more so in knowing that you have a place in this world, and you belong to God. Rebuke Satan and the influences of the world when they try to convince you otherwise, and seek refuge in the arms of the Jesus where you belong. People will fail you, this world will fail you, but He never will. To God Be the Glory!