From #LiveLent, the Church of England’s devotional series based on the first chapter of Genesis:

Scripture: Gen. 1:26-31 26 Then God said, ‘Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.’ 27 So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. 28 God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.’ 29 God said, ‘See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. 30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.’ And it was so. 31 God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Reflection:
While the other animals created on the sixth day are made “according to their kind”, humans are made “in God’s image”.

Humans are chosen by God to bear his image and be his representatives. Being God’s imagebearers equips us for the job of being God’s caretakers and gardeners, caring for the land and our fellow creatures. That gives humans a particular place before God. But the whole created order is caught up in God’s plans for redemption, not humans alone.

Prayer for the week:
For each perfect gift of thine,
To our race so freely given,
Graces human and divine,
Flowers of earth, and buds of heaven:

Lord of all, to thee we raise
This our sacrifice of praise.

From “For the beauty of the earth”, 
by F. S. Pierpoint (1835–1917)