"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."
In the very next chapter, we discover that God filled the Earth with the trees, plants, animals, etc. All in all, He created a world which He, being the ultimate expression of perfection, declared to be "very good". And over this creation, God set His last created being; man. The Scriptures tell us that,
"Then God said, 'Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.' God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.'” (Genesis 1:26-28)
In these passages of Scripture we find a mission which God gave to mankind. We call this mission the Dominion Mandate and even though sin and death have made the fulfilling of this commission arduous, we are still engaged in completing this mandate.
Over the past few days since I have returned home to Colorado, I have been engaged in seeking to take some dominion over our yard, in preparation for the end of our year-long lease. The challenge was to take the yard, both front and back, from its current state of neglect and return it to its original state when we first arrived at this house in 2012.
My first concern was the watering system. Here in Colorado, water is less than plentiful, but the state residents do what they can to maximize the water source available to them. Even the most amateur landscaper knows that grass needs consistent watering. But just turning the sprinklers on doesn't answer all your problems. My family and I soon discovered that the soil here in Castle Rock is filled with clay. This means that the yards have to be aerated in order to allow water and other nutrients to penetrate deeper than a mere surface level. So, the weekend project for my dad and I was to rent an aerator and start taking dominion! Here are some of the pictures from our efforts...
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| The professionals take over :) |
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| Progress |
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| Almost done with the backyard! |
While Dad was making good progress on the lawns, I was hard at work trying to get all of our sprinklers operational.
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| My tools and parts for repair |
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| The problem at hand |
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| Working on the front yard |
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| Our supervisor on his snazzy ride :) |
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| Looks good from here! |
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| This picture was his idea... |
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| All done and ready to be taken back to Home Depot! |
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| A freshly aerated lawn! |
God created men and women to work and to take dominion over His creation as stewards. How are you taking dominion and caring for what God has entrusted to you? I would challenge you, wherever you may be, to always be on the lookout for ways to act as a wise and hard-working steward over the little parcel of creation which God has given to you.
"What is man that You take thought of him, and the son of man that You care for him? Yet You have made him a little lower than God, and You crown him with glory and majesty! You make him to rule over the works of Your hands;You have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, whatever passes through the paths of the seas.
O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth!"
(Psalm 8:4-9)
