Genesis 2:15. The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.
Put. I know what you’re thinking – we just did this on Day 13. Put. Sum. Appoint. To put something in its proper place.
Well, the word “put” in Genesis 2:15 is a completely different Hebrew word – yanah. It means to rest. To settle down. To remain. To be quiet. We could read Genesis 2:15 as saying “God rested the man in the garden of Eden.” Or, “God quieted the man…”
Have you ever tried to put a baby to sleep? There’s all kinds of snuggling and rocking that takes place. Or maybe you’ve been a part of putting an awake baby or young child to bed so that they would fall asleep. Jammies. Stories. Prayers. Room darkening curtains drawn. Sound machine on. It takes a lot of work to rest a child. Everything has to be just right. In general, rest is hard for us. Taking a break, quiet time, naps. When you’re young, you resist these things. I’ve seen kids throw a fit over going to bed or taking a nap. (Now that I’m older I have no problem taking a nap, and I wish someone would tell me when to go to bed)
But we were made to rest. That’s why God rested us (put us) in a garden. Genesis 2:15 literally says, God rested the man in the garden to work it. God wanted Adam (and us) to work from rest. You may remember that this is a point we made back on Day 9 – God works from rest. On day seven of creation week, God rested, and he has been at rest ever since. Every work he has done since then has been from a position of rested. And now, in the garden, Adam and Eve will image God in this same way – first rested, then working.
Most of the time, as people, we get this backwards. We are told that first we must work, then we can rest. Moms and dads work hard so that they can go on vacation and rest. When you get your homework done, then you can rest. The coach won’t let you rest until you all get it right.
But rest isn’t supposed to be a reward for hard work. In fact, God made us to rest before we work. When God created 24-hour days for people, those days started at night. “The evening and the morning were the first day.” God wanted the day to start with going to sleep. Resting before working.
And that’s exactly what God is showing us in Genesis 2:15. Adam was put into a garden that was already complete, full, and “good,” and he was told to work in that garden. But there was nothing Adam could add to the garden. Every plant and tree was already there. The water was there. The animals were there. Truly, Adam’s work was to enjoy God’s creation and help it to grow and expand all over the world.
Now think about the work of Jesus. Jesus has done it all for us. Every sin is forgiven. Every debt is paid. Every evil is defeated. There is absolutely nothing that we can add to what Jesus has done. We are rested in his work. In his love. In his fullness and goodness. Now, just like Adam in the garden, we work from rest. We love because we are perfectly loved. We share because Jesus has shared everything with us.
Never, ever forget that with Jesus, you are never earning anything from him. We don’t earn our rest or our blessings. We enjoy them. That is our work, to enjoy Jesus and all of his gifts. To live in his garden of love and love others. To know that you are forgiven and saved and then to tell others.
This is one of the most important things you can learn as a Christian: Our good works gain us nothing with God. We are already at rest in him. There is nothing more to do than what Jesus has already done. So rest. Enjoy! Celebrate. Let the work you do be a gift from God to enjoy and celebrate all he has given to you.
Questions: Do you work so that you can rest? How would your attitude be different if you worked FROM rest instead? How does Jesus make it so that you can enjoy work as a gift from God?
TLICfamily 