Cultivating God’s World 管理天父世界

[Dexu Xia]

Cultivating God’s World

The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. Genesis 2:15

“Dad, why do you have to go to work?” The question from my young daughter was motivated by her desire to play with me. I would have preferred to skip work and spend time with her, but there was a growing list of things at work that required my attention. The question, nevertheless, is a good one. Why do we work? Is it simply to provide for ourselves and for the people we love? What about labor that’s unpaid—why do we do that?

Genesis 2 tells us that God placed the first human in the garden to “work it and take care of it” (v. 15). My father-in-law is a farmer, and he often tells me he farms for the sheer love of land and livestock. That’s beautiful, but it leaves lingering questions for those who don’t love their work. Why did God put us in a particular place with a particular assignment?

Genesis 1 gives us the answer. We’re made in God’s image to carefully steward the world He made (v. 26). Pagan stories of the way the world began reveal “gods” making humans to be their slaves. Genesis declares that the one true God made humans to be His representatives—to steward what He’d made on His behalf. May we reflect His wise and loving order into the world. Work is a call to cultivate God’s world for His glory.

What’s the work God has given you to do? How could you cultivate this “field” by bringing order into it and bringing good from it, by His grace?

Dear God, thank You for the honor of joining You in Your work in the world. Help me to reflect Your love, wisdom, and order in my life and in the place where I work.

管理天父世界

耶和华上帝将那人安置在伊甸园，使他修理看守。—创世记2章15节

年幼的女儿想要我陪她玩，故而问了我一个问题：“爸爸，为什么你必须去工作？”相较于工作，我当然更想花时间陪伴她，但工作上有越来越多事情需要我去处理。可是回头想想，这其实是个好问题：我们为什么必须工作？难道只是为了养活自己和我们所爱的人吗？假设我们所做的工是没有酬劳的，那我们还要去做吗？

创世记2章说，上帝将创造的第一个人安置在伊甸园中，叫他耕种和看守园子（15节）。我的岳父是个农夫，他说他从事农业是出于对牲畜与土地的热爱。能做自己喜欢的工作是很好的，但这让那些对自己的工作不喜欢的人心中存疑。为何上帝将我们放置在特定的岗位上，执行特定的任务呢？

创世记1章提供了我们答案。上帝照着自己的形象创造我们，并要我们细心管理祂所造的世界（26节）。在许多有关世界起源的神话故事中，众神使人类成为他们的奴隶。然而，创世记则表明，这位独一的真神是让人类作为祂的代表，来管理祂所创造的世界。愿我们能让世人看见上帝的智慧与慈爱的法则，藉由上帝赐予的工作，为上帝的荣耀去管理祂所造的世界。

亲爱的上帝，感谢祢让我能参与祢在世上的工作。
求祢帮助我们，能在生活及职场中向人表明祢的慈爱、智慧，以及祢所定的次序。

上帝指派什么工作给你？你如何靠着上帝的恩典,有条理地做好这份工作，且从中带来益处呢？