Ps.8 Lord God, your name is above every name on earth. It brings you praises from heaven above. You have even taught our little ones how to sing praises unto you. When they do so, it silences your enemies. I look at the sky and see the moon and stars that you have made. Then I wonder, why mankind is so important to you? Why did you make us a little lower than the angels and crown us with glory and honor? How is it that you choice to put us in charge of all that you have made?
Rev.21:1-6: John saw a new heaven and a new earth comes down to there the old earth was. The old earth passed away. There was also a new Jerusalem. A voice came from heaven saying, "see the temple of God has come to mankind. So God is now living with man and man with God. He will wipe all tears from their eyes for there shall be no more death, sorrow, or pain. Because all from the past will be gone, for God , who is on his throne will make them all things new. He invites all who is thirsty to come and drink of the fountain of life freely.
Mat.25:31-46:When Jesus comes back to the earth and sits on his throne to judge all the people from every nation. He will separate the people who followed him from those who did not. Just like a shepherd would separate the sheep from the goats. Putting the sheep on the right and the goats on the left. To those on the right, he will say, "come into the Kingdom of God for you are blessed. Because when I was hungry, you fed me. When I was thirsty, you you gave me something to drink. When I was a stranger, you became my friend. When I was naked, you gave me clothes. When I was sick, you visited me. When I was in prison, you came to me." Those he was talking to asked him," Lord, when did we do these things?" He said,"when you did it to people in these situations, you did it to me." Then Jesus turns to the ones on his left and says, get out of my sight, you cursed and go into the fire that never ends. For you did none of these things for me. They asked him, "When did we not do these things. Lord?" He told them, "When you did not do these things to anyone in these situations, you did not do it for me.
God made the heavens and the earth. Then he put mankind on the earth to take care of all that he had made. Doesn't sound like much does it? But it is! You see he made us to not only tend what he made. But he also gave us his glory and honor, so that we could partner with him in ruling over what God made. We should sing praises to him for that (Ps. 8). God made the earth with seasons and times. This makes it easier for us, for each season and time has it's own work that needs to be done. When we work with him, we will work within those seasons and times. For example, where I live, Spring is the times of planting; Summer is the time of taking care of what has been planted, and Autumn is the time to harvest what has been planted. Winter is the time to rest from all of that. Now if we were to try to rest in the time of planting, we could go hungry. As as you can see, our work will be better and easier if we work with God within his seasons and times. Then we will be more able to enjoy our work (Ecc. 3:1-13).
You see, he put us in charge until Jesus comes back to earth. And He is coming back! We are told of his return in many places in the Bible. Let me share a couple of the places that speaks of this with you. In Revelation 21:1-6a. we read of how a new heaven and earth will come down and replace the old earth. And there will be a new Jerusalem where God will sit on his throne. In Matthew 25:31-46, we read about how Jesus will sit on the judgment seat and judge us for how well we tended to the people that he made. Then we read again in Revelation how he will reward those who were faithful in tending to the job that he gave them (Rev. 6).
Challenge of the year:
As you start this new year, sit down and look at you life. Ask yourself, is my job and how I live helping God take care of his world and all who live in it? If not, choose to change that this year. If so, ask yourself, how can I better help God tend to all that he has made? Then do it. Have a blessed New Year!
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