A green drag boat doesn’t have much of an affect on the air quality at a drag boat race, or on the outcome of the event. It may win best appearing, or even be the fastest boat on the property, but does God care about going green while you’re racing?
Some people are trying to be hero’s of the universe by talking about everything going green. Hey, hey, hey, God created the oceans, rivers, lakes, trees, flowers and plants to be able to cope with the things the environment has to deal with. It’s not like God didn’t know what mankind would be doing in the twenty-first century?
I love racing and motorsports, and seeing the keen competition between intelligent humans who’ve figured out how to put their God given wisdom into a racing vehicle and get the most out of it is a real pleasure for me. Don’t get me wrong, God is number one in my life, but seeing a couple of drag boats screaming down the course is awesome.
But, do you know what gripes me? People that say the planet is heating up because the thermometers around our cities (many placed near hot asphalt) are showing a slight increase in summer temperatures. The weather records only go back a hundred and fifty years, so who knows what the weather was like five hundred years ago. No one has any records of the weather cycles when Christ walked this earth.
Or, how about those who say that plastic bags will lie around landfills for a thousand years? We’ve only had the plastic bags with us for the last few generations. After the next thousand years, we’ll know if they’re still with us or not?
Don’t worry about paper or plastic. Don’t worry about the Polar Ice caps melting and raising the level of the oceans. I’ve been on the West Coast for more than fifty years and the beaches are still at the same level they were when I moved from Missouri to California back in 1957. God’s sovereignty still controls all aspects of the environment…and be thankful He does.
When it comes to racing your drag boat, you should be seriously focused on your safety, your team’s well-being, your attitude and behavior, your purpose for racing, and your objectives that affect your faith and how you live out your life of faith.
Racing is something that many of us talk about much of the time. Faith is also something we talk about often: faith in racing fast, faith in trusting all your safety gear, faith in getting to and from the track safely, faith in your family’s well being under your supervision and faith in the sanctioning bodies and sponsors to put on a great event.
“Now these three remain: faith, hope and love,” (1 Corinthians 13:13). Faith in that you’ll be able to continue racing for a long time. Hope in your success in the sport that may bring a championship. Love for the thrill of your need for speed.
Faith is also something we talk about spiritually. We talk openly about it, we sing about it, we read about it, we admire people of faith, we read about people in the Bible and their lives of faith, and we [should] see faith being demonstrated by believers all the time. Faith is so vital to our spiritual well-being that God tells us in Hebrews 11:6 “That it is impossible to please God without faith.”
Racing is human effort (with results) show-casing competiveness. Faith in God is a result of our response to needing a Savior in a world that is slowly decaying. The world had a beginning, and our faith had a beginning. The world will end some day, and our faith will end too—it will then be superseded by sight. In eternity our faith will be fulfilled by the sight and surrounding beauty of Jesus Christ, and our faith will become out of date, as our appointed date with our Redeemer will bring us up to date with eternity.
Hope is a human trait that grows out of your faith in something; hopefully it’s your faith in Christ. Your hope also had a beginning and this hope will no longer be needed when your faith and hope have been brought to fruition in Christ. In eternity, hope becomes reality. You’ll forever be in the winner’s circle along-side the True Champion of the universe…its Creator and King.
Love is a character trait of God because “God is love.” Love never had a beginning and love will never end because love has existed from eternity past with God, which means that it will go on forever because God goes on forever.
So, as long as God is here…green will always be here…a color of the rainbow spoken in His promises to man. Heaven won’t be black and white. It will be like an explosion of many colors…reds, blues, greens, yellows as God rewards our faith with the virtual colors of victory.
Going green with God means our goal is to learn more about the vastness of God’s creation: spending time with Him alone, time in His Word, enjoying His creation and everything He’s done for us and given to us.
Going green with God means seeking Him by living and understanding His plan within the boundaries of His will. He’s given us the guidelines and the green light to accelerate our quest for knowledge of our main purpose [Him] on this green planet.
Going green with God means we’re to endeavor to apply His principles to every situation that crops up during our lifetime and to trust His plan to work the land the way He originally planned…“picking the fruit and praising the Lord.”
Going green with God means we must attempt to not only love our fellow human beings, but to love the nature of this earthly kingdom and to respect the fact that animals and plants were placed on earth to be managed and cared for properly…but not ranked above human welfare.
Going green with God means that each one of us is to be a steward of everything that we have: it’s all from God so the sooner we recognize that fact the sooner we’ll know the importance of taking care of it all.
Going green with God means that we must learn and teach others that we are dependant on God to produce and provide all we need to survive while we inhabit this earth which we share with billions of other people.
Going green with God means we must understand that love, not logic, created this world that we know. God didn’t need us, but He decided to create the human race to love Him back for the gifts He’s showered upon us: life, family, friends, pleasure, knowledge, nature, and most importantly eternity.
Going green with God is being content in all of our situations of life as we know it: having a hunger for eternity that begins and ends with Jesus Christ, and a thirst that is only quenched in Paradise, as we eat and drink with the Lord of Hosts.
Let me share about going green with God. His love is larger than the universe. When you have Him, you have all you need. We have only experienced a small portion of God’s love and care for us. “Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face” (1 Corinthians 13:12).
On earth we exist on oxygen that our Creator designed to emanate from plants and trees…and then cooled by a nice sea breeze. In heaven, we’ll exist for eternity in the presence of Christ’s amazing love that will invigorate our spirits.
God had the big picture in mind when He created the universe. He has big plans for us with a future conceived by His infinite wisdom. He has good reasons for not allowing us to have carefree lives. So with that in mind …
God invented green … mankind wanted his own life with an artificial sheen.
God created a green garden … but man eventually needed a big-time pardon.
God started with green trees and plants … man’s stubborn ways just produced rage and rants.
God said I’ll build you a green belt … men shunned Him because of the way they felt.
God promised paradise lined with green and gold … man argued let me do it my own way—I’ll grab hold.
God’s gift made the devil green with envy … but the God-man said please send me.
God doesn’t need green money … His Son did the job for mankind if you know what I mean honey.
God blesses us till we’re green in the face … His eternal plan for man is simply winning His race.
Green is God’s color of goodness. “And I'm an olive tree, growing green in God's house. I trusted in the generous mercy of God then and now” (Psalm 52:8 MSG).
Instead of going green; go for the gusto of God’s good-natured gospel of grace gently garnishing a great gathering of growing and gifted greenhorns gnawing at gaining a gallant garden amid a gateway to godliness.