Sustainable agriculture—tending the land for a better harvest not only this year, but for years to come—is practiced by farmers and home gardeners alike. One example: rice farmers in Cambodia keep ducks, which eat the bugs in the rice paddy that would otherwise destroy the rice. Meanwhile, the ducks leave behind their droppings as fertilizer. The farmers use what ducks do naturally to improve their land and their income.
That’s sustainability. Wise farmers use the gifts that God has given and that they have cultivated to tend the land God has entrusted to them so that it not only produces well now but will continue to do so for future generations. They use God’s gracious gifts to sustain God’s gracious gifts.
Whether we are home gardeners or not, God has given each of us so very much—everything we have, everything we are, everything! And our grateful response must be to sustain what God has entrusted to us so that those who come after us can share in and rejoice in God’s generosity too.
This message is excerpted from “Sustaining what God has given to us” by Audrey Novak Riley from the May 24, 2023, blog of the Women of the ELCA. Today is the 17th Sunday after Pentecost.
The Just Love Gathering ends today. Pray that those who attended the gathering arrive home with new-found information, ideas, and advice on living a life of Just Love. Ask them to share their experience with you.
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