I read Genesis 2:15: “The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.” I look up the language in translation and find three beautiful verbs: God settles the man down; God instructs him to cultivate the land and to guard the garden.
I think about a life’s work and how God settles us in places. We inhabit the location and begin the work of cultivation and guarding. We cultivate–preparing for fruitfulness in our literal work but also in people. We guard–protecting from harm in various forms both in our work and in people.
What and in whom shall I cultivate today? How are my words and actions helping prepare for fruitfulness? And how can I protect more and more my work and those around me from anything seeking to harm and destroy?
Wherever I am, I settle in, cultivate, and guard.