And 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 heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth." Genesis 1:28

Lately, the news has been filled with stories about drones.

Just a few of the stories have spoken about drones that have been used to kill leaders of various terrorist organizations; drones which missed their designated target and wiped out some civilians; drones which were spooking the wildlife in our national parks, and a narrative about how the nation of Israel shot down a Syrian drone, which had invaded its airspace.

With all these negative stories about unmanned drones, I was pleasantly surprised when I heard a story that came from the desk of Jurgen Gerdes, the German authority who is in charge of letters and parcels. Recently, Gerdes announced a drone will soon be delivering medicine from the Seehund Pharmacy in Norddeich to the island of Juist, which is about seven miles off shore.

In short, this was a good and peaceful use of drone technology, which takes me to that place where I can say there is a lesson to be had in these stories about drones. Indeed, it is a lesson that can be learned from many different sources.

The lesson is this: when the Lord made the heavens and the earth, He put humankind in charge of His creation. You don't have to read too far in Genesis to find out that we didn't do so well with the Lord's trust.

Today it isn't much different. God continues to bless His people. As Scripture reminds: the perfect Lord continues to be the Giver of every good and perfect gift (see James 1:17). Yes, God is good and He keeps giving, but His imperfect children continue to take those ongoing blessings and use them for unholy purposes.

Look carefully and you will find there are few of God's gifts in this world that humankind has not managed to mess up. Like St. Paul, we have to confess we often do the bad which should be avoided, and we ignore doing that which is good and God-pleasing.

This is just one more reason why we need a Savior.

You see, Jesus came into this world to do His Father's will -- and do it perfectly. Read through the Gospels and you will find there was never a time when He wasn't about doing the Father's business. That business given to Him meant He fulfilled the laws that had been broken. That business meant He resisted temptation. That business meant He carried our sins and died for us.

Now, because of what the risen Redeemer has done, our lives are changed, and we are given a future that is far better and more blessed than would ever have been possible if we had been left on our own.

THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, help me appreciate the good gifts I have been given and let me glorify the Savior by using them faithfully and well. In Jesus' Name. Amen.

Check out Lutheran Hour Ministries' video sermon series, "Footsteps of Paul." Click here!

In Christ I remain His servant and yours,

Today's Bible Readings: Hosea 9-11    Romans 15:14-33

To Download Devotion MP3 to your computer, right click here and select "Save Link As" or "Save Target As" or "Download Linked File As"