Mark WiLson
we can with what we have? live in the midst of his natural world and God’s water, God’s animals and God’s
Environmentalism, conservation and has put upon our shoulders the responsi- people with which we are dealing. And it
Caring
animal husbandry are more than protec- bility to rule his creation. is by God’s grace that we are put into a
tion — the real message is the use of It seems to me that our task, whether position of stewardship. I would hope that
for the
land, water and animals for the fullest we are farmers or not, is really to make in 2009, as in the days of creation, God
benefit of all people. the very best use of the land, water and might look at the world he made and say
Land
We must awaken to see beyond the animals; it is to realize that the only way with confidence, “Behold, it is very good!”
land, water, animals and people. I won- to succeed in our efforts is to confess our Copyright © 2009. All rights reserved.
der if we might not see ourselves as peo- dependence upon each other. Mark L. Wilson is president of Land
Stewards of God’s creation
ple who depend upon the rest of creation I would hope that we might humbly Stewards, LLC. He can be reached at mwil-
for our existence. God has created us to come to see that it is really God’s land, son@landstewards.com or 740-751-4703.
The Hebrew people knew they were
special. Even before Jesus Christ was
born, they began formulating a record of
their past. Initially their story was carried . 9 0 0 2 , 5 1 e n u J s i e n i l d a e d , y r r u H . m o c . p a w S r e m r a F x x a M r e s i u r C t a n i w o t r e t n E
by word of mouth, but in time, they
. s e k a t s p e e w S p a w S r e m r a F s n a e B x x a M r e s i u r C l i z a r B d n a . S . U e h t g n i c n u o n n A
elected to write down the story of God
. e r e h p s i m e H n r e h t u o S e h t m o r f d e w e i v s a n a e b y o s A
dealing with them as a people. Their
story begins: “In the beginning, God cre-
ated the heavens and earth.”
According to Biblical account, which
was inspired by God himself, you and I
were created to be the stewards of God’s
creation. Here we are, created along with
the rest of creation, and WE have been
given the responsibility for all. Quite a
responsibility, is it not?
So stewardship over nature is the joy
and responsibility of mankind — of you
and me. But do we ever stop to think why?
Why have we been given dominion over
the land, water, plants and animals? Why
are we the stewards?
I suppose if we were to put it as simply
as possible, we would have to say that we
are the stewards because WE DEPEND
absolutely upon the rest of creation. Surely
God creates us and sustains us — he is our
provider from the beginning to the end —
but our food, our clothes, our love, our
children arise out of our relationship with
the rest of God’s creation.
Farmers are the primary stewards of
God’s creation. They are the providers of
food, fiber, and now fuel, for the rest of us.
It’s not because farmers are so clever, capa-
ble or strong. It’s because they know, per-
haps more than us, how helpless and
dependent we are on the rest of creation
for life.
Farmers can decide whether or not
to misuse God’s land; they can decide
whether or not to pollute God’s water;
they also can decide whether or not to
mistreat God’s animals. Yet they toil
from sunup to sundown to be good
stewards of God’s creation because
they know their decision in all these
matters may mean the difference
between life and death.
Occasionally we run into disagree-
ments over how God’s land, water
and animals should be used or cared
for. A dozen people can look at the
same piece of land, stretch of water or
animal production practice from
different points of view. One may see a
subdivision, another may see rolling
farmland; one may see a meandering
fishery, another may see a water
A soybean as viewed from the Northern Hemisphere.
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But man is also the companion of his ©2009 Syngenta Crop Protection, Inc., P.O. Box 18300, Greensboro, NC 27419. Important: Always read and follow label instructions before buying or
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responsible not only to God, but also to
each other.
If our life depends so much upon
our relationship with nature, do we not
have an obligation to do the best job
Ohio’s Country Journal • May 2009 •Country Life 35


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