Like most trends, going green has become a source of pride …. According to the Institute for Grocery Distribution, nearly 70 percent of today's shoppers reach for more expensive grocery items if they are marked organic, fair trade, or free range. Sales of groceries labeled organic have grown by an unbelievable 20 percent a year for over a decade now ….

Everything from your neighborhood supermarket to couture fashion has been marked by the fad. An outdoor-wear company, Patagonia, produces fleece jackets made from recycled plastic bottles. Diane von Furstenberg, Oscar de la Renta, Nike, and Levis all offer eco-friendly items. Even Sam's Club now sells jeans and T-shirts made with organic cotton …. The green revolution has even infiltrated corporate America …. The computer juggernaut Dell is working with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to lower its carbon emissions footprint and launched an ambitious reforestation program …. Every time I turn on the television, it seems a celebrity [Bono's wife, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Julia Roberts, to name a few] is promoting his or her newest environmental pet project.

The message reverberates through culture beckons us to "go green" because we will look better and feel better and fit in …. [But as followers of Christ] we have deeper reasons to go green. We serve the Creator of the planet …. He created the earth and took the time to tell us his plan for it. The God of the universe has given us the great task of caring for our planet …. We have an operating manual for our planet right in front of us in the Bible, and we must allow that manual to change our thinking and behavior.