Thank you to Phillip for this week’s MWB
Read Genesis 2:1-15.
We read in verse 2 that ‘on the seventh day God rested from all his work.’
God blessed this day of rest and made it holy. Our beautiful world, including our bodies, have many complex cycles and changes of season, but time for rest is essential.
Sadly, humans have continued to use up vital resources and given no thought to the replenishing of essential stocks. Margot Hodson has commented that our ‘economic system is based on the concept of continual growth, and yet our planet is finite’.
We will have all experienced the benefits of a weekly day of rest; our minds and bodies are restored, renewed and refreshed. When we have a regular time of rest during each week, we are given time to reflect on the other parts of our life.
And yet, sadly, humans have worked the planet without rest, and ‘the ecological crisis is a predictable result.’
We need to recognise that we are part of God’s creation and not separate from it; may God give us wisdom to live in tune with His seasons and patterns!
In verse 8 we read that God ‘had planted a garden in the east, in Eden. He created a beautiful garden for humans to live in. More than that, God placed them in the garden ‘to work it and take care of it’. Interesting to note is that the word ‘work’ also means serve.
The word is used elsewhere to explain discipleship. We are called ‘to love God and serve him with all our hearts and souls. (See also Deuteronomy 10:12).
The phrase ‘take care of’ is also translated as keep. We also find the word ‘keep’ in the Aaronic blessing:
The Lord bless you
and keep you;
‘ the Lord make his face shine on you
and be gracious to you;’ (Numbers 6:24-26).
In caring for the garden, (our world) we serve the Lord. More than that, we are called to care for it and protect it in the way that God cares for us.
Ponder and pray:
- Pray that God will enable us each day to be good stewards of this beautiful world He has created. Ask him to show us what we can do to look after his ‘garden’, just as we care for our own gardens.