We often associate work with other 4 letter words, not good. But something caught my eye in the Bible this morning that I’ve never noticed.
“The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.” Genesis 2:15
This was before the Fall, before sin entered the Garden. Things were still perfect. Adam’s relationship with God was still perfect. Yet God expected Adam to work. And a garden is always growing. There was no retirement in Adam’s future. Work was part of God’s perfect plan.
Work wasn’t a punishment. It was a gift.
As I see my 82 year old mother’s body reduced to rubble and she needs help rolling to her side in bed, I understand truly what a gift the ability to work is.