Eden

And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. Genesis 2:15.
Although everything God had made was in the perfection of beauty, and there seemed nothing wanting upon the earth which God had created to make Adam and Eve happy, yet He manifested His great love to them by planting a garden especially for them. A portion of their time was to be occupied in the happy employment of dressing the garden, and a portion in receiving the visits of angels, listening to their instruction, and in happy meditation. Their labor was not wearisome but pleasant and invigorating. This beautiful garden was to be their home.
In this garden the Lord placed trees of every variety for usefulness and beauty. There were trees laden with luxuriant fruit, of rich fragrance, beautiful to the eye, and pleasant to the taste, designed of God to be food for the holy pair. There were the lovely vines which grew upright, laden with their burden of fruit, unlike anything man has seen since the fall. The fruit was very large and of different colors; some nearly black, some purple, red, pink, and light green. This beautiful and luxuriant growth of fruit upon the branches of the vine was called grapes. They did not trail upon the ground, although not supported by trellises, but the weight of the fruit bowed them down. It was the happy labor of Adam and Eve to form beautiful bowers from the branches of the vine and train them, forming dwellings of nature’s beautiful, living trees and foliage, laden with fragrant fruit.9
It was the design of God that man should find happiness in the employment of tending the things He had created, and that his wants should be met with the fruits of the trees of the garden….
Had happiness consisted in doing nothing, man, in his state of holy innocence, would have been left unemployed. But He who created man knew what would be for his happiness; and no sooner had He created him than He gave him his appointed work. The promise of future glory, and the decree that man must toil for his daily bread, came from the same throne.
Conflict and Courage p. 12
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Prayer Requests
—–Pray for my cousin. They found a mass in her uterus. She is just scared as can be since both her parents died of cancer. Linda
—–I am asking for prayers for my mom. She has been in the hospital since the beginning of December and things are not going well. She is in the beginning stages of dementia and believes she is going home upon discharge and she is not. I pray that my brothers and I make the right decision on her future care. Lisa
—–Urgent prayer for one of my best friends immediately!!! Please cry out to God on her behalf! Kim
—–Please pray for Myrna, our former pastor’s wife, who has been suffering since Christmas and was just put on hospice. Please also pray for her husband Dale, daughter Lisa, and son Kevin that God will wrap His comforting arms around them all. Rose
—–Please pray for Esther, Brian, and the children as they drive the rest of the way home today. Rose
—–Requesting prayer for my son. Eva
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Dear Friends,
I had some family photos on the wall behind my desk when I was working. One of them was of my grandfather, Edwin Harmon. I liked to look at the photo and remember how much time he spent with me when I was a little girl. The highlight of my day was when he would come home from work. From then until bedtime, I would follow him around watching everything he did, listening to everything he said. He never seemed to tire of my companionship. Instead, he seemed happiest when I was “underfoot.”
At times he would bring home Moroccan leather in order to make coin purses to sell. As he would work at his large dining room table, he would tell me about the leather he was working with. He would let me smell it and tell me to remember that certain smell that good quality leather had. I can still remember its distinctive odor, and in my mind’s eye, can still see maroon, navy blue, black, or green of the various pieces of leather out of which he made those coin purses. As he would wet with a sponge the piece of leather on which he was working, he would tell me about that animal that lived in the depths of the sea. I watched as he measured, cut, and creased the wet leather so it looked like a flower. He used a piece of whalebone to do this, and as he used it, another lesson would come from his lips. Each time he made purses, it was always the same, but I never tired of hearing these things. As I got older, he would help me make a purse for my very own.
How much we need that same closeness with our Heavenly Father that I had with my grandfather so long ago. How much we need the leading that He wants so much to give us. How much we need the gift of the Heavenly Eyesalve that He so freely offers that we may have right discernment in every matter. Just as my grandfather was happiest when I was learning at his knee, so our Great Creator is happiest when we love to spend time with Him. Just as my grandfather taught me many things during my first ten years of life, so our Heavenly Father longs for us to learn the lessons that He has for us each day throughout our life. Indeed, He has infinite knowledge for us to learn from His Holy Word. He will teach us these wonderful truths if we will only allow Him to. Daily we should pray, ?Show me thy ways, O LORD, teach me thy paths. Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation, on thee do I wait all the day.” Ps 25:4,5 Praise God! He will answer, “I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.” “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.” Ps 32:8, Jer 33:3
May we open our hearts freely to our Dear Father in Heaven having that same childlike trust that is so necessary in our daily walk with Him. Indeed, He tells us, “Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Matt 18:3 May we receive the wonderful lessons He is longing to unfold from His Holy Word. May we, in turn, share with others that which we have received from Him.
Rose