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b'\\u201cNinety-eight, ninety-nine\\u2026 and that makes one hundred,\\u201d I counted aloud\\nwhile another volunteer added the total to the app on my phone. My family\\nand I had volunteered to pick up trash surrounding a lake in our community.\\nOne of our tasks involved tracking the number of various kinds of items we\\ncollected in our clean-up efforts. Even before the end of our shift, my\\nteam and I had retrieved over 100 used, stubbed-out cigarettes from the\\nground near the lake. We knew this place needed some attention, but until\\nwe joined the clean-up crew, we hadn\\u2019t realized how carelessly it had been\\ntreated.\\n.\\nMany of us may have noticed signs instructing us not to litter. But for\\nthose who seek to follow Jesus, our motive for caring for God\\u2019s creation\\ngoes deeper than simply following human rules.\\n.\\nWhen we put our trust in Jesus, we begin a relationship with God as our\\nloving Heavenly Father. Our lives take on a new direction; the Holy Spirit\\nworks in us so our actions and choices can honor God as we love and obey\\nHim in decisions big and small.\\n.\\nSo, how should a child of God interact with the natural world? By first\\nremembering that God created the world; that the earth\\u2014and everything in\\nit\\u2014belongs to Him. And by reflecting on the reality that God called His\\ncreation \\u201cgood\\u201d (Genesis 1). As God\\u2019s love fills our hearts, it overflows\\nin acts of love for the people and the environment around us. Our Lord\\ninvites us to care for His creation, compelled by the sure hope of Jesus\\u2019s\\nreturn, when heaven will meet earth and He will renew and restore all of\\ncreation. As we keep in mind that God takes pleasure in the world He has\\nmade, we can uncover a deeper meaning behind choosing not to litter\\u2014and\\na deeper purpose in cleaning up the litter we find around us. \\u2022 Allison\\nWilson Lee\\n.\\n\\u2022 Jesus loves His creation (John 1:2-3; Colossians 1:15-23). How could this\\ntruth affect the way we view the earth?\\n.\\n\\u2022 What are some practical ways we can care for the physical world that God\\nhas made?\\n.\\nThe earth is the Lord\\u2019s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live\\nin it. Psalm 24:1 (NIV)\\n\\xa0\\nRead Verses:\\nGen.1.1-Gen.1.10|Ps.24.1-Ps.24.2'