Worshipping Nature Without Knowing It
Worshipping nature sounds like something archaic or foreign: people talk to trees or leave offerings to animals. And yet, you’d be shocked at how it slips into our modern Western culture. What happens when we love God’s creation so much but start forgetting to thank Him for it?
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A Beach Full of Fish With No Eyes
I was on vacation in Florida. I was walking the beach early one morning when I came across dozens of dead fish. Seabirds usually clean a beach fast, but that morning they had only eaten the eyes of the fish. A quick Google search told me that a toxic algae called red tide had moved through. Somehow the birds went straight for the one part the toxin couldn’t reach.
Now, imagine I started praising and thanking those seabirds for their wisdom and understanding of the dangers of the sea. That’s be foolish because those birds made no cautious decision. An instinct had been hard-wired into them. And that wiring points us back to the One who designed them. My amazement belongs with the Creator, not the creature.
Worshipping Nature Looks Different in the Yukon
The Romans were notorious for creating false gods out of anything and everything. In His letter to Rome, the Apostle Paul sets them straight:
Paul tells them that God’s “invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made” (Romans 1:20 ESV).
Where I live, in the Yukon Territory of Canada, we have incredible landscapes. It should be an assumption to look up at the mountains and think, God made all this. The trouble starts when we stop at the mountain, and the view becomes the only focus.
Paul names the trade in Romans 1:25 ESV: people “exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.”
Notice how he bursts into praise the moment he finishes the sentence. Every time we enjoy creation, we get to hand the glory back to God.
How Worshipping Nature Slips Into Our Hearts
Believers slip too. Like every idol in this series, it shows up in identity, security, and belonging.
- Identity: A trophy hunt, a personal best fish, or a summit starts to measure who we are.
- Security: A week at the cabin becomes our spiritual reset, and we crave it when we can’t get back.
- Belonging: We call the wilderness our church, or we love the planet more than the people on it.
When we’re sick or dying, we want people at the bedside, and God’s people most of all.
Marvel at the Mountains, Worship the Maker
Here’s how we can respond this week:
- Harvest or catch? Thank God right away.
- Lakeside or summit? Remember His majesty.
- Northern lights? Give Him the glory.
- Enjoy your wilderness weekends, make time for your church family, and invite others to both.
Build a rhythm of thankfulness into every moment, so that creation stays the gift it was always meant to be.
The Creator Who Stepped Into Creation
The same Jesus who made every mountain, forest, and river hung on a cross to bring us back.
In Colossians 1:19-20 ESV we read, “For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.”
He stepped into creation and died for it so we could be forgiven. That’s worth marvelling at!
Join the Conversation; Answer This Question
- When was the last time creation took your breath away, and who did you thank?
