Do you know anyone who has decided to "go green?" I don't that I'm aware of. I mean, I know people who try to not waste food and who recycle, but I've always thought that only certain people with money can actually "go green." I haven't felt the need to look into it at all. I've just always thought, "the Lord is not really calling me to that. That's a little extreme, right?..."
I confess more by saying that I'm still not certain about what the Lord is asking of me in this department; but I know that He is using it to deal with a heart issue of mine.
I was reading Isaiah 39, and I was floored. This is the chapter where the prophet Isaiah predicted the captivity of those in Jerusalem by the huge force of the nation of Babylon. This chapter begins, though, by telling of how the Jews' king, Hezekiah, invited the son of Babylon's current king (the captivity would happen a while later) into all of his treasure houses-kind of to show off all of the riches he owned. Later, these treasures would be carried off, just as the people of Jerusalem were, as belonging to Babylon.
The prophet Isaiah then prophesies of a future captivity to Hezekiah, and his response was something like, "Good. At least it won't happen while I'm alive." What a selfish thing to say! I was appalled! And then I heard the still, small voice encourage me to ask when I had responded this way in my own life.
God brought to my attention that when approached with the idea that I should go green to take care of this planet, I had flippantly responded in my heart this same way. How embarrassing. While I won't condone any kind of worshiping of the earth, I do believe the earth was a gift from the Lord to humanity that I should feel some responsibility in caring for. Though we're far from the earth that God originally intended (where spiders don't terrorize me ;-)), I don't have to lack concern or care for that which the lord has entrusted me-us.
Like I mentioned earlier, I'm not certain at this point what this looks like practically, but I must at least approach the question with a different heart. Anybody got some cool going green tips?
I confess more by saying that I'm still not certain about what the Lord is asking of me in this department; but I know that He is using it to deal with a heart issue of mine.
I was reading Isaiah 39, and I was floored. This is the chapter where the prophet Isaiah predicted the captivity of those in Jerusalem by the huge force of the nation of Babylon. This chapter begins, though, by telling of how the Jews' king, Hezekiah, invited the son of Babylon's current king (the captivity would happen a while later) into all of his treasure houses-kind of to show off all of the riches he owned. Later, these treasures would be carried off, just as the people of Jerusalem were, as belonging to Babylon.
The prophet Isaiah then prophesies of a future captivity to Hezekiah, and his response was something like, "Good. At least it won't happen while I'm alive." What a selfish thing to say! I was appalled! And then I heard the still, small voice encourage me to ask when I had responded this way in my own life.
God brought to my attention that when approached with the idea that I should go green to take care of this planet, I had flippantly responded in my heart this same way. How embarrassing. While I won't condone any kind of worshiping of the earth, I do believe the earth was a gift from the Lord to humanity that I should feel some responsibility in caring for. Though we're far from the earth that God originally intended (where spiders don't terrorize me ;-)), I don't have to lack concern or care for that which the lord has entrusted me-us.
Like I mentioned earlier, I'm not certain at this point what this looks like practically, but I must at least approach the question with a different heart. Anybody got some cool going green tips?
One thing that we have done is eliminate the use of paper towels. I have paper towels for the guest bathroom, but that's it. We use cloth napkins for eating, microfiber towels, shammys and old towels for cleaning and spills. The transition was very easy and it was a great way to do something "green".
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