Have you been paying attention to the wild fires on the West Coast?
When news first came out about these devastating fires many claimed they were due to global warming.
Yet now experts in forestry are countering that theory.
They're saying the real reason for all these blazes is years of forest mismanagement.
Up until recently the risk of out of control fires was kept at a minimum -- thanks to logging, grazing and controlled burns.
But the growing environmental movement put a stop to these activities by giving forests a sacred status and letting them run wild.
This has made forests unhealthy and much more vulnerable to catastrophic fires.
There's an important dominion mandate management principle at work here.
When creation is exalted outside of God's design, it's sure to bring trouble.
But when creation is managed as God commands, it brings blessing.
The current West Coast fires remind us of this truth.
They also prompt us to manage well whatever bit of creation God puts in our care, as we play our role in subduing the earth (Gen.1:28).