Guardin' the Garden

Picture the Garden of Eden…what do you see? Lush tropical forests, sparkling waterfalls, succulent fruits on every branch, Adam and Eve swinging on a hammock in the shade – paradise! I recently read an article that made me take a second look at Genesis and the Garden of Eden. Did God really create such a paradise for Adam and Eve?

Genesis 2:4-15
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 and no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth and no plant of the field had yet sprung up, for the LORD God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no man to work the ground, 6 but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground- 7 the LORD God formed the 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 And 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.

Notice something…God’s planned paradise involved Adam and Eve working and taking care of the earth. At the very beginning of creation, God intended a partnership between him and mankind and between mankind and the earth. There is something very spiritual about taking care of the world. Too often environmental issues are separated from spiritual issues, and at times from Christianity all together. God’s call to care for the earth involves environmental advocacy. Christians should be some of the loudest voices concerning environmental issues because we know the God who created the environment. Working and taking care of the physical might just be spiritual.