The earth is the vineyard of the Lord and we are His tenants.
It took Him a few billion years to make this fertile land.
He spaded it, fenced it with stones, laced it with rivers and lakes.
He planted the choicest vines and trees,
Giving forth colorful flowers and juicy delectable fruits.
He let loose all sorts of beasts and animals to help make the land fruitful.
Then, He placed man as steward of it all.
Man loved this paradise God created for Him.
He made it productive and learned his role as God’s co-creator.
He prospered and was happy in this vineyard.
But all too soon, man thought this was all his making, all his for the taking.
He started acting like he was the owner the vineyard,
Forgetting he was just the tenant, a steward.
In a few centuries, man has thrashed this beautiful paradise:
Mountains denuded of their luxuriant forest covers,
Pristine seas polluted with endless garbage patches and debris,
Glorious glaciers melting from the heat of the fires man has started,
The bowels of the earth gutted of all their precious stones and minerals,
Half of the wildlife driven to extinction as their habitats are destroyed.
What will we do when the Lord of the Vineyard comes to collect His produce?
We may have the teeming cities to show but everything else around is dying.
The flowers will be gone because we have paved over the fields with concrete.
The majestic trees will be gone for we have cut them all for timber.
The vast blue ocean will be dead, for we have made them garbage dumps.
The mountains will be no more for we shall have dug them all for their treasures.
The animals and the beasts will be gone but for the livestocks we raise for food.
And we are at each other’s throats fighting over the remaining fruits of the vineyard.
Tell me that this all a bad dream and that I will soon wake up;
That we will again realize we are but stewards of this beautiful paradise.
I hate to think of the time
When the Lord of the vineyard leases the vineyard to other tenants,
Who will give him the produce at the harvest time.
The vineyard of the Lord is the house of Israel.
~ Psalm 80
Jesus said to the chief priests and the elders of the people:
“Hear another parable.
There was a landowner who planted a vineyard,
put a hedge around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a tower.
Then he leased it to tenants and went on a journey.
When vintage time drew near,
he sent his servants to the tenants to obtain his produce.
Matthew 21:33-34