Then God said, "Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures,

       and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens."
 

       And God created the great sea monsters, and every living creature that moves,
       with which the waters swarmed after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind;

       and God saw that it was good (Genesis 1:20-21).

 

The Lord said that His people were worth "more than many sparrows" (see Matthew 10:31), so sparrows are obviously worth something to Him. When He created the beasts He "saw that it was good" (Genesis 1:25). The creation is precious to the Lord, which is why we see in Revelation 11:18 that when the Lord's great wrath comes at the end, one reason is "to destroy those who destroy the earth." Christians should be the most devoted conservationists of all, counting precious what our wonderful Creator has given us to enjoy on the earth. Life, in all of its forms, must be esteemed and protected. However, this must not be confused with the idolatrous worship of the creation in place of the Creator.

 

In John 10:10 the Lord said, "I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly." He is called "the Prince of life" (Acts 3:15). He came to lead us in the path of life. In Him is life, and He is the One with the words of life. If we are abiding in Him, life should likewise be flowing from us. We have been given a well of living water that will never run dry. In all that we do, we should love, seek, preserve, and spread life.

 

One of the most ancient philosophical questions is: What is life? In simplified terms, life is communication. We have life for as long as we can communicate, or interrelate, with our environment. Man is called a "higher form of life" because we communicate on a higher level. We are likewise alive spiritually only if we communicate spiritually. As the Lord said in John 6:63, "the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life." We only have spiritual life if we hear His words, or communicate on a spiritual level. If we are alive in the Spirit, then they can kill our bodies but they cannot take our lives. As He said in John 11:25-26, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die."

 

In Scripture, our spirits are sometimes referred to as our heart. That is why we read in Proverbs 4:23, "Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life." The Lord explained in Luke 6:45 that "the good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart." We quoted before from Proverbs 18:21, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit." As a famous statesman once said, "Let your words be sweet because you never know when you may have to eat them!"

 

Our words are an indication of what is in our hearts. Proverbs 10:11 states, "The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life." As James wrote, "Does a fountain send out from the same opening both fresh and bitter water?" (James 3:11) Amazing, but true, our words can actually have the power of life or death in them. The words of the gospel preached can actually have the seed of eternal life in them. Let us always guard our words so that they impart life.

 

The Lord loves life. He created the world to "swarm" with life. If we are in unity with Him, we will promote life in everything. Death is an enemy that has invaded the creation. Death will be defeated, but until its ultimate defeat, let us confront and overcome it with life. We should always consider how we can promote and protect life. Let us always speak words of life and hope, determining to overcome death with life by bearing fruit that remains. We should always be sure that our words are His words and are "spirit and life."

 

In Psalm 16:11 we read, "Thou wilt make known to me the path of life; in Thy presence is fulness of joy." The Lord Jesus is the Source of all life. The closer we are to Him, the more life we will have in us. As King David also wrote in Psalm 36:9, "For with Thee is the fountain of life; in Thy light we see light." Let us choose today to abide in the Source of all life, and let His life flow through us to bring life to others.