January 29, 2009

In the Garden To Work

“This is the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens, before any plant of the field was in the earth and before any herb of the field had grown. For the LORD God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the ground; but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground. And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. The LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. And out of the ground the LORD God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Now a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it parted and became four riverheads. The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one which skirts the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. And the gold of that land is good. Bdellium and the onyx stone are there. The name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one which goes around the whole land of Cush. The name of the third river is Hiddekel; it is the one which goes toward the east of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates. Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it.” (Genesis 2:4-15 NKJV)

I don’t know about you, but I often wonder about the garden of Eden, how it must have been for Adam and Eve to tend the garden and commune with God. Surely, the work was easy as there was no curse until after their sin.

How many conversations did Adam have with the Creator? What did they talk about before the fall? He must have enjoyed God at that time I think.

Of course, that relationship radically changed after the fall. We continue to experience the consequences of sin today. It is difficult to put off sin and commune with God, and He no longer speaks audibly to us.

However, it is not impossible for believers to commune with God. In fact, we must. A lack of spiritual fellowship is one of the quickest ways to lose that communion. We are spiritual creatures, who have died spiritually. Yes by faith, we have had a spiritual resurrection, but the flesh now wars with the spirit.

Won’t it be a glorious day when we can see Jesus face to face? To be able to ask Him a question, and have the spiritual capacity to understand His answer is something for which I long. I know there will always be things that only God knows. That is what makes Him God. However, I am confident we shall know Him much better then.

Our garden is full of weeds and our work is hard, but we need to continue with the tending until we meet Him. Therefore, let’s do it with an attitude of anticipation. If we have that mindset, I think it will make the waiting a little easier. In the meantime, let us fellowship in Spirit and truth even if that means we have to work at it some. Amen.