Many scriptures speak of the wonders of God’s creation and of stewardship, including (TNIV). Here are a few to reflect upon:
Genesis 1:4, 10, 12, 17, 21, 25-28
God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness.
God called the dry ground "land," and the gathered waters he called "seas." And God saw that it was good.
The land produced vegetation: plants
bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed
in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
God set them in the vault of the sky to
give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to
separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good.
So God created the great creatures of the
sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems,
according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind.
And God saw that it was good.
God made the wild animals according to
their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the
creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God
saw that it was good. Then God said, "Let us make human beings in our
image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea
and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals,
and over all the creatures that move along the ground."
So God created human beings in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
God blessed them and said to them, "Be
fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule
over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living
creature that moves on the ground."
Genesis 9:9-10
“I now establish my covenant with you and
with your descendants after you and with every living creature that was
with you—the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those
that came out of the ark with you—every living creature on earth.”
Leviticus 25:1-5
The LORD said to Moses on Mount Sinai,
"Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter the land I am
going to give you, the land itself must observe a sabbath to the LORD.
For six years sow your fields, and for six years prune your vineyards
and gather their crops. But in the seventh year the land is to have a
year of sabbath rest, a sabbath to the LORD. Do not sow your fields or
prune your vineyards. Do not reap what grows of itself or harvest the
grapes of your untended vines. The land is to have a year of rest.
Job 38
Then the LORD spoke to Job out of the storm. He said:
"Who is this that obscures my plans
with words without knowledge?
Prepare to defend yourself;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.
"Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?
Tell me, if you understand.
Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!
Who stretched a measuring line across it?
On what were its footings set,
or who laid its cornerstone—
while the morning stars sang together
and all the angels shouted for joy?
"Who shut up the sea behind doors
when it burst forth from the womb,
when I made the clouds its garment
and wrapped it in thick darkness,
when I fixed limits for it
and set its doors and bars in place,
when I said, ‘This far you may come and no farther;
here is where your proud waves halt’?
"Have you ever given orders to the morning,
or shown the dawn its place,
that it might take the earth by the edges
and shake the wicked out of it?
The earth takes shape like clay under a seal;
its features stand out like those of a garment.
The wicked are denied their light,
and their upraised arm is broken.
"Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea
or walked in the recesses of the deep?
Have the gates of death been shown to you?
Have you seen the gates of the deepest darkness?
Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth?
Tell me, if you know all this.
"What is the way to the abode of light?
And where does darkness reside?
Can you take them to their places?
Do you know the paths to their dwellings?
Surely you know, for you were already born!
You have lived so many years!
"Have you entered the storehouses of the snow
or seen the storehouses of the hail,
which I reserve for times of trouble,
for days of war and battle?
What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed,
or the place where the east winds are scattered over the earth?
Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain,
and a path for the thunderstorm,
to water a land where no man lives,
an uninhabited desert,
to satisfy a desolate wasteland
and make it sprout with grass?
Does the rain have a father?
Who fathers the drops of dew?
From whose womb comes the ice?
Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens
when the waters become hard as stone,
when the surface of the deep is frozen?
"Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades?
Can you loosen Orion’s belt?
Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons
or lead out the Bear with its cubs?
Do you know the laws of the heavens?
Can you set up God’s dominion over the earth?
"Can you raise your voice to the clouds
and cover yourself with a flood of water?
Do you send the lightning bolts on their way?
Do they report to you, ‘Here we are’?
Who gives the ibis wisdom about the flooding of the Nile,
or gives the rooster understanding of when to crow?
Who has the wisdom to count the clouds?
Who can tip over the water jars of the heavens
when the dust becomes hard
and the clods of earth stick together?
"Do you hunt the prey for the lioness
and satisfy the hunger of the lions
when they crouch in their dens
or lie in wait in a thicket?
Who provides food for the raven
when its young cry out to God
and wander about for lack of food?
Job 39
"Do you know when the mountain goats give birth?
Do you watch when the doe bears her fawn?
Do you count the months till they bear?
Do you know the time they give birth?
They crouch down and bring forth their young;
their labor pains are ended.
Their young thrive and grow strong in the wilds;
they leave and do not return.
"Who let the wild donkey go free?
Who untied its ropes?
I gave it the wasteland as its home,
the salt flats as his habitat.
It laughs at the commotion in the town;
it does not hear a driver’s shout.
It ranges the hills for its pasture
and searches for any green thing.
"Will the wild ox consent to serve you?
Will he stay by your manger at night?
Can you hold it to the furrow with a harness?
Will it till the valleys behind you?
Will you rely on it for its great strength?
Will you leave your heavy work to it?
Can you trust it to haul in your grain
and bring it to your threshing floor?
"The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully,
though they cannot compare
with the wings and feathers of the stork.
She lays her eggs on the ground
and lets them warm in the sand,
unmindful that a foot may crush them,
that some wild animal may trample them.
She treats her young harshly, as if they were not hers;
she cares not that her labor was in vain,
for God did not endow her with wisdom
or give her a share of good sense.
Yet when she spreads her feathers to run,
she laughs at horse and rider.
"Do you give the horse his strength
or clothe its neck with a flowing mane?
Do you make it leap like a locust,
striking terror with its proud snorting?
It paws fiercely, rejoicing in its strength,
and charges into the fray.
It laughs at fear, afraid of nothing;
it does not shy away from the sword.
The quiver rattles against its side,
along with the flashing spear and lance.
In frenzied excitement it eats up the ground;
it cannot stand still when the trumpet sounds.
At the blast of the trumpet it snorts, ‘Aha!’
It catches the scent of battle from afar,
the shout of commanders and the battle cry.
"Does the hawk take flight by your wisdom
and spread his wings toward the south?
Does the eagle soar at your command
and build its nest on high?
It dwells on a cliff and stays there at night;
a rocky crag is its stronghold.
From there it looks for food;
its eyes detect it from afar.
Its young ones feast on blood,
and where the slain are, there it is."
Psalm 8:5-8
You have made them a little lower than the heavenly beings
and crowned them with glory and honor.
You made them rulers over the works of your hands;
you put everything under their feet:
all flocks and herds,
and the animals of the wild,
the birds in the sky,
and the fish in the sea,
all that swims the paths of the seas.
Psalm 24:1
The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it,
the world, and all who live in it;
Psalm 96:11-13
Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad;
let the sea resound, and all that is in it.
Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them;
Let all the trees of the forest sing for joy.
Let all creation rejoice before the LORD, for he comes,
he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
and the peoples in his faithfulness.
Psalm 104:16-24
The trees of the LORD are well watered,
the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.
There the birds make their nests;
the stork has its home in the junipers.
The high mountains belong to the wild goats;
the crags are a refuge for the hyrax.
He made the moon to mark the seasons,
and the sun knows when to go down.
You bring darkness, it becomes night,
and all the beasts of the forest prowl.
The lions roar for their prey
and seek their food from God.
The sun rises, and they steal away;
they return and lie down in their dens.
Then people goes out to their work,
to their labor until evening.
How many are your works, O LORD!
In wisdom you made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.
Micah 6:8
He has shown all you people what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.
Matthew 7:12
So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.
Mark 12:28-31
One of the teachers of the law came and
heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer,
he asked him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?"
"The most important one," answered Jesus,
"is this: 'Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the
Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all
your mind and with all your strength. 'The second is this: ‘Love your
neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these."
John 1:1-5
In the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the
beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was
made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light
of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has
not overcome it.
John 3:16
For God so loved the world that he gave
his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but
have eternal life.
John 5:17
In his defense Jesus said to them, "My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working."
Romans 8:19-23
The creation waits in eager expectation
for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected
to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who
subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from
its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the
children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as
in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so,
but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan
inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption, the redemption of our
bodies.
Ephesians 1:9-10
…he made known to us the mystery of his
will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be
put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity
to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.
Colossians 1:15-20
The Son is the image of the invisible God,
the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created:
things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones
or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created
through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things
hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the
beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything
he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his
fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all
things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace
through his blood, shed on the cross.
Hebrews 1:1-4
In the past God spoke to our ancestors
through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these
last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all
things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the
radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being,
sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided
purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in
heaven. So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has
inherited is superior to theirs.