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A Godly Appreciation of Nature

I enjoy nature and worship God through it, so a verse in Romans gives me pause.

It talks about the error of worshiping created things instead of the Creator. I feel that I can worship God through my appreciation of nature, that I can better appreciate the intangible through the tangible.

Yet this verse seems to say I need to worship God directly, not indirectly through his creation.

It also talks about the error of serving created things rather than the God of creation.

I get that. I can see where a love of nature can cause us to effectively serve nature as we attempt to preserve or promote it. While these intentions are good, they detract us from God.

Though I will not abandon my appreciation of the world God created and my desire to treat it with respect, I will be careful not to let this good thing get in the way of something better: the God of all creation.

[Read through the Bible with us this year. Today’s reading is Romans 1-4, and today’s post is on Romans 1:25.]

[I rarely dip into Bible commentaries as I study the Bible, but I did for this verse. They offered no help.]

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

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