Earth Day: Keeper

"The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it." Genesis 2:15

Via TJC

January 1969. Three million gallons of crude oil off the coast of Santa Barbara. Thirty-five miles of blackened beach. Dead seabirds. Dead seals. A senator named Gaylord Nelson watched the footage and decided someone should be responsible for this. A year later, he launched the first Earth Day. Twenty million Americans turned out. 

Someone was always supposed to be keeping it.

The First Assignment

God gave Adam a job before He gave him a wife. Before the rib. Before the helper. Before the apple, the serpent, the curse. Before any of it.

"The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it" (Genesis 2:15).

That was the assignment. Two Hebrew words carry the whole weight of it: avad, to work or serve, and shamar, to keep, to guard, to protect. These are the words of a steward, which is more than an owner. The same verbs show up later in the Old Testament for the priests serving in the tabernacle.

So, the first man was a priest of the garden.

We Don't Own Any of It

"The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it" (Psalm 24:1).

Your house. Your yard. The oak on the corner. The creek behind the ball field. The dirt under your boots right now. None of it is yours. You are a manager. You are keeping it for the Owner, and one day, He is going to ask how you did.

We Walked Away from the Job

Most Christian men checked out of this conversation a long time ago. The loudest voices on the environment didn't sound like us. So, we dropped the whole thing and let someone else carry it, and that was a mistake.Caring for what God made is a job description. Older than any party, any movement,  America, or the church. 

The steward protects the gift and gives glory to the Giver. The moment you elevate the earth above the One who made it, you have traded your priesthood for idolatry. Keep the order straight: God on top. Creation under your care. You are in the middle, doing the job you were made for.

Battle Order

1. Go outside with your eyes open. Walk around the block. Name three things God made. Remember who owns them.

2. Pick up what isn't yours. A wrapper on the sidewalk. A neighbor's trash can that blew over. Leave a place better than you found it, no credit asked.

3. Teach a child the difference. Creation is a gift, not a god. The Giver gets the glory. The gift gets the care.

4. Fix one thing at home this week. Stop a leak. Plant something. Repair instead of replace. Manage your land.

Father, You gave us a garden and a job. We have been sloppy with both. Forgive us for walking away from the assignment because the wrong people started talking about it. Put our hands back on the work. Let us tend what You made, love what You love, and keep what You put in our care. In Jesus' name. Amen.