“You shall not muzzle an ox when it is treading out the grain.” Deuteronomy 25.4

God loves His creation – loves it so much that He sent His only Son to redeem it from sin and to reconcile it to Himself (Jn. 3.16; 2 Cor. 5.17-21). Because God loves His creation, we His people must love it, and we must encourage others to love it as well. Loving God’s creation is a measure of the love we have for Him. The various creatures of the world – whether animate or inanimate – fulfill distinct roles within the divine economy. They are all God’s servants to accomplish His (often mysterious) purposes (Ps. 119.89-91).

Further, the creation bears witness to God in all its aspects, both “natural” and “cultural” (cf. Ps. 19.1-4; Acts 14.17). We may learn about God and His will from the creation, thus enhancing our ability to know and love Him as He commands.

Thus we must seek to understand the world as God’s servant and revealer, and we must honor it as such, using each aspect of the creation in ways consistent with the demands of love for God and neighbor.

So we must not mistreat the creatures in our own service, whether oxen or waterways or lands, or the resources of culture entrusted to us for doing good works unto the Lord. We must also take care to honor the creatures which have been entrusted to our neighbors, lest we cause our neighbor’s stewardship to suffer impairment or interruption (cf. Ex. 22.1, 4; Lev. 24.18, 21; etc.).

In the divine economy outlined for the people of ancient Israel, the land was to be given rest from cultivation every seven years, that it might replenish its strength and continue to be fruitful in perpetuity. Farmers today demonstrate their sense of the wisdom of resting the land by rotating crops, liming and fertilizing exhausted soils, and sowing nitrogen-producing plants into fields to replenish them.

We may also honor the creation by creating sanctuaries which preserve flora and fauna untouched by human development or abuse; by feeding the song birds; even by learning the names of particular creatures and understanding something of their unique contribution to the wellbeing of the environment and the glory of God – a task appointed to us which, in His wisdom, God considers to have importance (cf. Gen. 2.19, 20).

What applies to the creation – honoring and caring for it, using it in ways consistent with the purposes of God’s glory – applies as well to the cultural products we make from the creation and use for our own sustenance and enrichment. Does it glorify God to change our oil every 3,000 miles? I find no contradiction, nor do I think it trivial, to answer that question in the affirmative. If we keep our cultural resources in good repair, our ability to use them in the Lord’s service will be enhanced (Eccl. 10.10).

T. M. Moore

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