Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.” Genesis 1:28 (New Living Translation) (NLT)
In the old King James version of the Bible, the above verse reads: And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
I have often felt that in the King James rendition, people often seemed to feel empowered to “subdue the earth” in whatever fashion they wanted. That included many practices that have been seriously deleterious to the health of the earth, our environment, and human kind as well.
The translation by the NLT gives a more nuanced and thoughtful translation. It uses the words “reign over”, rather than “subdue”. We humans have been given the role of stewards of the earth and its marvelous resources. Sadly, we have often exploited those resources- sometimes due to greed, sometimes due to indifference, sometimes due to ignorance.
When we reign over the earth, as we would hope that our governments would reign over their people and nations, we should expect order, efficiency, safety, and a future orientation for sustained health.
We have a rather spotty (at best) track record as being stewards of the Earth we are to reign over.
Prayer: Lord, forgive us for our failures to reign well over your creation, Amen
Reflections of a Counselor 