Photo and Commentary ©2023 by Maylan Schurch
Sabbath, July 15, 2023
Have I mentioned that I love the office-supply sections of thrift stores? Many times. Have I patronized them, adding to my collection of notebooks and journals? Many times. (Have I finally had to ruthlessly cull and donate back the majority of these notebooks, knowing that I’ll never fill them? You betcha. Now it’s to the point where I understand that no, just because a notebook has all those lovely, empty lined pages, I don’t need it. So I don’t buy it. Okay, once in awhile.)
But I still slip into thrift stores and gaze with delight. That’s what I did a month ago, and the photo above shows you what I saw on a shelf.
Chuckling, I found it easy to resist this “buy now” temptation. No, I don’t want to dominate the world. No, filling this notebook with possible plots to achieve that end would be not only useless but sharply blasphemous.
But there’s a good sense in which we were designed to exercise authority over our earthly home.
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” — Genesis 1:26 – 228 NKJV
Dominion, right? Rulership? Stewardship?
But did you catch the difference? God promised dominion to Adam and Eve, not domination. There’s a difference. Domination hints of power which takes little or no notice of the feelings of the ones dominated. Dominion, on the other hand, is nurture and guidance.
For a three-verse tutorial about God’s sovereignty – how He Himself rules – check out the link just below.