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Tag: Heaven

  • Mountain Time – thoughts on stewardship

    Mountain Time – thoughts on stewardship

    A cliff face in Manning Park near Skagit Valley Trail - some thoughts on stewardship

    Late last week, we took a road trip to Manning Park for a walk along the Skagit River Trail. We needed some fresh air, some mountain time, and a touch of snow (but not on our streets or driveway). It’s just over an hour’s drive away, so it’s relatively handy.

    I find that when I get out in nature, it often clears my head (as well as my lungs) and helps me “see and hear” God more easily. I took this shot of a nearby cliff face from where we parked. Even through the haze, it’s beautiful.

    That mountain has stood there for a long time. It looks as if it will still stand there for a long time. Yet the face is slowly changing. Erosion and rockslides are subtly recarving the face. We live in an area prone to earthquakes and with active volcanoes; either could totally transform the mountain.

    Even the things we consider rock solid don’t last forever. We live in a broken world that is destined for destruction. The day will come when even the mountains and the oceans will burn up.

    “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.”  2 Peter 3:10

    If everything will be destroyed, why bother trying to preserve any of it? Humankind was put on this little blue planet, third from the sun, to steward it.

    And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth. Genesis 1:28 

    “The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.” Genesis 2:15

    We have been appointed to a God-given task to steward a part of His kingdom. Its eventual disposition is in the hands of the owner, but in the interim, we manage it until His return. 

    I’m reminded of the parable of the talents (or minas) where the master gives the servants responsibility for a certain sum, and there is an accounting when he returns. (Matthew 25:14–30, Luke 19:11–27)

    How well will we fare when the master returns and we face a review of our stewardship? Not well in general.

    I’m not suggesting we all become earth worshippers; that’s a sin. Simply that we could all make small changes to be better stewards.

    What are your thoughts? Have you ever compared our stewardship to those parables before?

    Be blessed

    Kevin

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    All contents, “Gleanings From the Word” and “Experience an Extraordinary God in Ordinary Life,” are © 2001, 2026 K.F. “Kevin” Corbin, “Gleanings From the Word.”

    Unless otherwise noted, “Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved

    From Gleanings From The Word (Kevin Corbin, 2001– ), a Scripture-based devotional work.

  • Old and New – The Old Will Pass Away

    Old and New – The Old Will Pass Away

    This morning’s image showcases a small section of a massive  sandstone cliff in Point Roberts, Washington. Point Roberts is a pene-exclave of the USA, meaning it is American soil, but you have to go through Canada to access it by land. It has some small but beautiful ocean-side parks.

    These sandstone cliffs have stood seemingly forever, yet they are slowly vanishing. If you look at the center of the pic, you can see a groove running downwards. The sand is almost constantly in motion, trickling back down to the sea as it slowly erodes away.

    The sound is like a soft, gentle rain. It will take innumerable human lifetimes for the cliffs to be gone, but in the fullness of time, they will stand no more.

    Even the most permanent-seeming of things in the created universe have an expiry date. The sun itself will eventually burn out if God hasn’t come back by then.

    The little blue planet, third from the sun, that we call Earth will pass away.

    Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. Matthew 24:35 ESV

    For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind. Isaiah 66:17 ESV

    But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. 2 Peter 3:10 ESV

    And, “You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands; they will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment, like a robe you will roll them up, like a garment they will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will have no end.” Hebrews 1:10-12 ESV

    The final end to the existing physical order is not something we need to fear. The same God who created it all with a word, who stands outside the physical realm, remains, and He promises His faithful a new home.

    Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” Revelation 21:1-6 ESV

    As we await that day, we steward the physical realm to the best of our abilities, all the while recognizing that God created it for our use.

    The seas may dry up, the climate might change, the magnetic poles might swap end over end, and the mountains fall into the sea. Yet, we can hold fast because the God we worship remains the same, regardless of our earthly situation.

    God is in control and totally dependable. Praise His name.

    Hallelu Yah (Praise God)

    Be blessed, 

    Kevin