The Job Description

Dear Friends,

Lately I've been thinking a lot about Adam, of “Adam and Eve” fame. I think it's because I recently finished a novel that was centered on the story of Adam's sons, Cain and Abel. So reading that novel, combined with the impending celebration of Father’s Day, has got me thinking a lot about that first dad.

Adam is an interesting guy to ponder. He’s probably best known for being the first man on earth, with the second most commonly known fact about him being that he helped usher sin into this world. Which means that, along with his wife Eve, he gets blamed for a lot of what's wrong with the world today. But beyond those two significant facts, most of us don't know all that we could, or should, about Adam. For example, do you know what Adam's official job description was? Genesis 2:15 describes it like this, “The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it.” Sounds straightforward enough - Adam's first job was to tend and watch over the Garden of Eden.

As we read that, I think an easy conclusion for us to jump to would be that Adam was simply a “gardener”. However, if we stay with that assumption and move on, we would miss out on the fullness of what God intended for Adam. Here’s why I say that: in the original language, the word used for “tend” meant that Adam was supposed to explore and discover the mysteries of what God had created. In other words, Adam's job was to walk with the Creator of the universe, to live in fellowship with Him, and to explore the wonders of His creation. Sounds like a great job, doesn’t it?

As I've pondered all of that, what I've come to realize is that God has given us all that same job description. We are here to walk through life with the Creator of the universe, to live in fellowship with Him, and to explore the wonders of His creation. Also, just like Adam, God has even given us companions - family, friends, spouses - to share all of that with. And when I think about life that way, I have to be honest and say it's one job I'm really glad to have.

However, the problem we face is the same one that Adam did - and that is, the temptation to ignore the job God has given us. The reality is, when we're tempted to sin we're basically looking at the “work” God gave us to do, and we're choosing to do something else. We’re choosing to not walk with Him, to not fellowship with Him, and to not enjoy His creation. Instead, we go our own way, doing our own thing. The result is that we miss out on all the benefits God has set up to go along with our jobs - things like peace, contentment, hope, joy, and intimate fellowship with our Creator.

So today, let's do the job God has given us to do. Let’s say no to the temptation to go our own way, and instead, let's spend the day walking with Him, enjoying His fellowship, and paying attention to His creation.

Amen?

Daniel