Adam and Eve, aging well into their early 900s, are sitting on the front porch of their tract home in the “East of Eden” subdivision. The horizon is gray and murky. Smoke is rising intermittently. A gun shot is heard off to the left, a muffled scream to the right. Adam does not even bother to look at his wife, as he mutters, “You did this, you know. You and that snake.” Blame-gaming that has been going on for more than 8 centuries.
Not her first garden party, Eve was ready, “You let it in! You, who named every animal on Earth, then forgot that the snake was the most crafty of them all! No wonder you were fired from your first job!” She had a point, a double-edged sword coming from the same Hebrew word found in both Genesis 2:15 and 3:24, shamar.
If man won’t, then angels will…guard!
“Tending” your garden does you no good if you can’t “keep” it!
I am personally mindful of this on a daily basis. My family, and marriage, have been broadsided by this—the minute someone let their guard down—lowering their gaze from the face of Jesus. The danger is real, just as the garden was real. Moses gave us Eden’s GPS to what was originally a Mesopotamian wonderland, nestled at the confluence of four rivers. It is here that you can insert your own home address—with or without reptiles.
Living in a fallen world is no excuse for falling down on the job.
Whether single, living on your own, or married with six kids, men should be making sure that no evil gets into their homes. No matter if it tries to slither in under the door jamb, or slide under the window sill, or, worse yet, you bring it in yourself—all coiled up in the form of “Did God really say?”—the snake oil of bad habits, addictions, lying, or just plain spiritual laziness.
If and when that happens, no amount of fig leaves will help either you or your family.
Guardian angels have better things to do than standing around, waving a flaming sword in front of an arboretum. Don’t make Michael, Gabriel, or even Clarence do your job for you.
“Tend” —yes. “Guard”—absolutely! In other words, “You’re Hired!”
“He who fears the Lord has a secure fortress, and for his children it will be a refuge.
—Proverbs 14:26
Brad lives with the wife of his youth for 40 years, Cindy, on three acres in Franktown, Colorado, surrounded by dogs, cats, ducks, goats, and chickens. With their entire family close by - including four grandchildren - you never know when the family will drop by and add to the fun. He is the author of “The Four ‘Seasons’ of Our Father’s Evangelical Church” series.