Daily Devotions - Wednesday, January 16

A Reminder for Winter's Snow

“The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it,
the world, and those who live in it.”
--Psalm 24: 1

Watching snowflakes drift down toward the earth illuminated by a spotlight still glowing in the pre-dawn hours is truly awesome. A few years ago we visited with family in Colorado. One night we took time to visit Seven Falls in Colorado Springs. The beauty of the lighted, iced- over waterfalls took on added splendor at places where spectators could observe the water flowing underneath paper-thin ice. In the midst of wintertime there are reminders that the earth is the Lord’s.

Here is a prayer written for the United Nation’s Environmental Sabbath:

Great Spirit, give us hearts to understand;
Never to take from creation’s beauty more than we give;
Never to destroy wantonly for the furtherance of greed;
Never to deny to give our hands for the building of Earth’s beauty;
Never to take from her what we cannot use.

Give us hearts to understand
That to destroy Earth’s music is to create confusion;
That to wreck her appearance is to blind us to beauty;
That to callously pollute her fragrance is to make a house of stench;
That as we care for her she will care for us. Amen.

A prayer for today:
Creator God, thank you for the beauty of the earth and the glory of the skies. Amen.

Ben Keckler
01.16.08