Tuesday September 12, 2023
Theme : “God wants honest stewards” Text: Genesis 2:4-15
4. These are the origins of the heavens and the earth, when they were created. 5. When the LORD God made the earth and the heavens, not a shrub of the field was yet on the earth, nor did any herb of the field yet sprout: for the LORD God had not sent rain upon the earth, and there was no man to till the ground. 6. But a vapor rose up from the earth, and watered the whole surface of the ground. 7. The LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living creature. 8. Then the LORD God planted a garden in Eden on the east side, and there he placed the man whom he had formed. 9. The LORD God caused trees of every kind to grow out of the ground, pleasant to the sight and good for food, and the tree of life in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 10. A river came out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it divided into four branches. 11. The name of the first is Pishon; it is that which surrounds the whole country of Havilah, where the gold is found. 12. The gold of this country is pure; bdellium and onyx stone are also found there. 13. The name of the second river is Gihon; it is that which surrounds the whole land of Cush. 14. The name of the third is Hiddekel; it is that which flows to the east of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates. 15. The LORD God took the man, and placed him in the garden of Eden to cultivate it and to keep it.
Let's remember:
The LORD God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden to cultivate it and to keep it. God wanted man to be an honest steward. Man did not have the mission to open the garden door to creatures foreign to his eyes in order to avoid perversion. God's plan was so precise that man only had to follow it to become an honest steward. God came by every evening to review man’s activity in the garden. It was to supervise him and give him management tools. Man did not need additional wealth because he had enough to last several millennia. There was already a river that came out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it divided into four arms. The need for water could not disturb man. He only had to stock up on supplies and also supply the animals; water the greenery. Man also had the mission of looking after natural resources such as mines. To do this, he had to maintain the gold well because the gold of this country was pure; bdellium and onyx stone were also found there. These precious stones are of great wealth although at the time, mining industries did not yet exist for their transformation. The LORD God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden to cultivate it and to keep it. Cultivating and tending the garden are the two things that God asked of man. A mission, means and resources. Everything was there, nothing was missing. But nowadays we give people missions without giving them the resources and means to accomplish the mission. A question: why should man keep the garden? Were there attackers, spoilsport, enemies? The rest of this story shows us, and God knew that the serpent could come there to exercise his trickery. So with this in mind, man had the responsibility to be honest and consistent so as not to give in to the wiles of the serpent. Let us be straight in our boots if we want to be stewards of integrity. Have a great Tuesday. Amen Alain Louz.-
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