Our first job

Most of us probably remember our first job. We can probably still remember being assigned our duties. Maybe it was washing dishes or waiting tables in a local restaurant, or perhaps stocking shelves, or delivering goods. Whatever it was, it was most likely short-term and probably not anything we’d still want to be doing today.

The reality is most first jobs are only stepping stones to something else. We may have learned some valuable life lessons, such as the importance of a good work ethic, and being punctual, but most of us probably couldn’t imagine ourselves now, as adults, working day in and day out at our first job again.

But have you ever thought about our first job as a race – the first job ever held by a man or woman. If it had no more relevance to us today than our first jobs as individuals, then it would hardly be worth discussing. But the fact is, the first job ever given to mankind still has direct application to all of us today, and because of this, it most definitely is worth discussing.

In Genesis 2:15 we have this record of the first job ever assigned to mankind:

“Then the LORD God took the man and put him into the Garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it.”

The Hebrew word translated “cultivate” in this passage means “to work, serve or till.”

The Hebrew word translated “keep” means “to hedge about, guard, protect or attend to.” God placed Adam in the Garden of Eden to act not only as the master gardener who was the steward of everything in the garden, but also as the policeman, if you will – with a sworn duty to “serve and protect” the garden. Look also at this statement in verse 5:

“…No plant of the field had yet sprouted, for the LORD God had not sent rain upon the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground.”

What this passage is saying is that God did not let the plants and other vegetation grow up and get “out of hand” until he had put a “hand” (as in “hired hand”) in the garden to keep them “in hand.” Adam was the “hand” that God placed in the garden to be responsible for it, take care of it, nurture it, and protect it. And these duties God assigned to Adam would later be extended to Eve as well.

“So what,” you might be asking, “does any of this have to do with us today?” Well, if we look not just literally but figuratively at these duties God assigned to man in the garden, we see that it has quite a bit to do with us today. Each one of us has been planted in a “garden” of some kind. This “garden” is made up largely of the people that surround us, such as our spouse, children, family, and friends. Just as Adam was to serve and protect the Garden of Eden, we are to serve and protect our loved ones, and to cultivate and nurture them in such a way that they will be healthy and fruitful.

You can’t read the Bible through without coming to the conclusion that God is a gardener at heart. So its not too strange that he should expect us to be also! I’m not sure about you, but seeing things in this light makes me want to get my hands in the dirt and start developing that “green thumb” within me!