Litter Bug

“Ninety-eight, ninety-nine… and that makes one hundred,” I counted aloud
while another volunteer added the total to the app on my phone. My family
and I had volunteered to pick up trash surrounding a lake in our community.
One of our tasks involved tracking the number of various kinds of items we
collected in our clean-up efforts. Even before the end of our shift, my
team and I had retrieved over 100 used, stubbed-out cigarettes from the
ground near the lake. We knew this place needed some attention, but until
we joined the clean-up crew, we hadn’t realized how carelessly it had been
treated.

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Many of us may have noticed signs instructing us not to litter. But for
those who seek to follow Jesus, our motive for caring for God’s creation
goes deeper than simply following human rules.

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When we put our trust in Jesus, we begin a relationship with God as our
loving Heavenly Father. Our lives take on a new direction; the Holy Spirit
works in us so our actions and choices can honor God as we love and obey
Him in decisions big and small.

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So, how should a child of God interact with the natural world? By first
remembering that God created the world; that the earth—and everything in
it—belongs to Him. And by reflecting on the reality that God called His
creation “good” (Genesis 1). As God’s love fills our hearts, it overflows
in acts of love for the people and the environment around us. Our Lord
invites us to care for His creation, compelled by the sure hope of Jesus’s
return, when heaven will meet earth and He will renew and restore all of
creation. As we keep in mind that God takes pleasure in the world He has
made, we can uncover a deeper meaning behind choosing not to litter—and
a deeper purpose in cleaning up the litter we find around us. • Allison
Wilson Lee

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• Jesus loves His creation (John 1:2-3; Colossians 1:15-23). How could this
truth affect the way we view the earth?

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• What are some practical ways we can care for the physical world that God
has made?

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The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live
in it. Psalm 24:1 (NIV)

Read Verses:

Gen.1.1-Gen.1.10|Ps.24.1-Ps.24.2