A Cultivated Life in Christ

There was no one to work the ground. Genesis 2, verse 5. Welcome to today's encouragement from Our Daily Bread.

A Cultivated Life in Christ was written by Matt Lucas and read by Wes Ward. Genesis chapter 2, verses 4 through 9. This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the Lord God made the earth and the heavens. Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth and no plant had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground. But streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground. Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.

And the man became a living being. Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden, and there he put the man he had formed. The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground, trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

A Cultivated Life in Christ, written by Matt Lucas. When we built our home, it stood on little more than a muddy, empty lot at the end of a gravel road. We needed grass, trees, and shrubs to match the surrounding Oregon foothills. As I got out my lawn tools and set to work, I thought of the first garden waiting for humans. No shrub had yet appeared on the earth and no plant had yet sprung up, and there was no one to work the ground. The creation account in Genesis 1 repeats God's assessment of creation.

It was good, or very good. However, it wasn't complete. Adam and Eve needed to cultivate the ground to exercise stewardship of God's creation. They weren't meant to live in an unchanging paradise, but one that needed care and development. Since the beginning, God has been inviting humans to partner with him in his creation. He did it in the Garden of Eden, and he does it with the new creation he makes of us when we put our faith in Christ. Upon salvation, we're not made perfect.

As the Apostle Paul says in Romans 12, Do not conform to the pattern of this world. God works in us as we pursue a life pleasing to Him, conformed to the image of His Son. Whether it's caring for the earth or caring for our new life in Christ, God has given us a gift we need to cultivate.

Let's pray. Father, thank you for inviting us to partner with you in both your creation and the new life that we have in Christ. Would you help us to faithfully cultivate what you have entrusted to us, forming our hearts to reflect the image of your Son? And we thank you, Lord. It's in Jesus' name that we pray. Amen. As you go about your day, reflect on these questions. What work do you enjoy most? What might God be calling you to cultivate in your community?