Doing God's Work (Gen. 2:8-15)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 01/20/2006

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  Doing God’s Work

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Genesis 2:8-15

            Message of the verse:  “8 The LORD God planted a garden toward the east, in Eden; and there He placed the man whom He had formed.  9  Out of the ground the LORD God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

10  Now a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it divided and became four rivers.  11 The name of the first is Pishon; it flows around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold.  12 The gold of that land is good; the bdellium and the onyx stone are there.  13 The name of the second river is Gihon; it flows around the whole land of Cush.  14 The name of the third river is Tigris; it flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.  15 Then the LORD God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it.”

            Moses again talks about what God had created on the third day, which was in chapter one, and in verse eight.  God planted a garden called Eden and He placed the man in this garden to do work in this garden, which is revealed in verse fifteen.  Verse nine gives information to the reader that this garden was not only beautiful to look at, but that there was also all kind of food produced from the plants and trees that God had planted in this garden.  Verse nine also speaks of the tree of life and also the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and these two trees were planted in this garden.  Later on Moses will write much more about these two trees. 

            In verses ten through fourteen Moses speaks of some geography that modern man does not know much about, but there are two rivers that is the Tigris and the Euphrates, that are known today and give us some idea as to where this garden was located.  I am sure that it is all very different than when it was first created. 

            As said before verse fifteen tells of the job that the Lord gave to the man that He had just created.  The work before the fall was much different than the work after the fall, but God still gives work to His children even today.  God gave work for His Son to do while He was on the earth and Jesus spoke of doing the work of the Father in John’s Gospel.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  God has given me work to do and I have to figure out exactly what that work is that He wants me to do at this stage of my life.  God has a plan for me, and God has a job for me and when it is time for my departure, either in the Rapture or through death I want to be able to say with Paul that I have finished the work that God has given me to do.

The Word of God has been a challenge to my heart as I read and studied it this morning.

My Steps of Faith:  To trust the Lord to give me the message that He wants me to give to those at the Bible study this afternoon, to be controlled by His Spirit in order to do this.  I want to trust the Lord to guide me and direct my paths and to teach me contentment through the trials that I am going through.