https://odb.org/2025/02/06/a-cultivating-life
Genesis 2:4–9, 15 (NIV): 4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the LORD God made the earth and the heavens. 5 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, 6 but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground. 7 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. 8 Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. 9 The LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 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, when the LORD God created man and the earth, He created a specific garden in the East for man to live in. Up till Genesis 2:15, the man was still alone. It was only in the subsequent verses that the woman was created from his rib to be his companion. But the point is that God had instructed man to work and take care of the Garden of Eden with its plants and vegetation.
Anyone who has had a garden will know that trees and plants, including unwanted weeds and invasive species, will grow naturally so long as there is sunlight and rain. God has made it that way since the beginning. Thus, if we want something specific from our garden, we need to plant and cultivate it, and it will grow and bear fruit. For example, papaya or banana trees. Every other creature in the vicinity of the garden will also want to have the fruits of the trees we plant, and thus, we need to take steps to secure and protect them. If not, in the case of my garden, the birds of the air or squirrels or monkeys will devour them.
The Garden of Eden is a picture of our spiritual life. Like Adam and Eve as the first humans who needed to work and cultivate Eden, we need to do the same for our spiritual life. We need to secure the fruits that come with hearing and obeying the Word of God, or else the evil one will come and snatch it away. In fact, if we are not careful, as Jesus has taught us before in the Parable of the Sower, the Word may be taken away by the devil and his minions. Or if we allow weeds (cares of life) to grow in our garden (spiritual life), the weeds will choke the life out of the plants that are growing. In other words, we will get distracted, and the plans and purposes of God will not be achieved in our lives. Instead of serving God, we will serve our own desires of the flesh. See Luke 8:4-15 for the full details.
As I have written before in these pages, we have a responsibility to work and take care of our spiritual life. In fact, we need to work and take care of the garden (or land) God has given us, our inheritance in Him, and that includes His plans and purposes for our lives. Not just our eternal life but the things He has prepared for us during our lifetime on this earth since the foundations of the world.
Ronnie's Thoughts 