(March 27, 2020)

Genesis 2:15 “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden, to work it and take care of it.” 

In the beginning, God made the man and Eve. He made a special place in which they could live together. There was no anxiety, no hurting, no loneliness, no pain. …what do you imagine that kind of Paradise would be like? Ponder that for a moment…

Was work part of that mental picture? Work was defining characteristic of Eden. Genesis 2:15 is clear: they are to work – and this is before sin had entered the picture. After all, God had been delighting in His own work (He called it “good.”) And God calls humans to work up to 6 days out of 7. It seems that work is one of the very few things you can have a lot of, and still have it be good for you.

During this time of distancing, the partners of our congregation have widely different routines: some of us are cooped up, quiet, bored. We crave meaningful work. If so, write some cards, text some prayers, make some phone calls to support others. Genesis teaches us that we should never underestimate the power of a good word (e.g. 1:3, 6, 9…).

On the other hand, others of us are overloaded, and may now have added schooling our children on top of everything else. Our calling is to be reminded of the God who walks in our midst even when we are distracted (Gen 3:8). The hardest thing you have to do may be to force yourself to take that God-given rest.

Wherever you are, give yourself grace, for none of us thinks of work rightly about work all the time. To do that would be as unusual as gardening without weeds (3:17-19).