The Earth Is the Lord's

The Earth Is the Lord's

John Muir, the naturalist and founder of the Sierra Club, wrote: 'The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness.' He didn't need to be a Christian to love creation — but when he was asked about the theology behind his conservation work, he quoted Psalm 24:1. 'If the earth is God's,' he said, 'then to destroy it carelessly is to vandalize what belongs to Him.' A Christian forester echoed the same sentiment a century later: 'I am a steward of something that belongs to Someone else. That changes everything about how I treat it.'

Psalm 24:1 makes a sweeping declaration of ownership: everything belongs to God. The earth — not a portion of it, not the religious spaces — all of it. And 'all who live in it' — not just the religious, not only humans, but all living things. This has profound implications for how Christians relate to the natural world. We are not owners; we are stewards. The creation belongs to God, was declared good by God, was damaged by human sin, and will be renewed by God. In the interim, stewarding the earth is an act of worship — acknowledging the Owner's right, managing His property with the care He intends, and participating in His purposes for the world He made.