a Love Story – The Garden – February 2
a LOVE STORY
February 2nd, 2021
The Garden
Genesis 2:21-22, ‘And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from the man, He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man (NKJV).’
Momentarily, out of the damp, dark soil burgeoned new life. Plants sprouted and trees sprung to existence and beautiful flowers flourished from all green things. The garden was at once prosperous and exquisite, like a haven, lush and fortified and peaceful. It was ‘a spot on the earth where the presence of God was an open door to heaven, a delightful place’, and the Master Designer named this place Eden. He drew who He had made in His image and placed Him in the beauty of the garden, and, to him, He gave the key and Eden.
Amazement and awe was palatable coming from this being who the Master had created and His heart swelled. This is love, He thought again, with pleasure. He fancied that this creature He had fashioned from the dirt would be different from all other creatures, and the Master dreamt individuality into His creation. With loving inspiration, He gave the being, an imagination and the ability to dream and create, and the being smiled gratefully at Him, whispering, ‘So this is love?’
The Master was pleased with what was blooming in His hands. Yet He felt discontent stir in Him, something unfinished and unresolved. Through time and space, the Master viewed His being, and suddenly He knew why He felt incomplete; His being was incomplete!
As He gazed on him, he saw holes and voids and emptiness in His being much like He felt when He had hovered over the depth of empty vastness. “It is not good for the being to be alone so I will make him a companion,” He surmised; and He set about sculpting a helper from a piece He had taken from His being. He did not want him to feel alone so He gifted to the man being a softer, gentler replica where wholeness and oneness could thrive. The Master Creator peered deep inside His creations, quietly deciding, “It is good if I leave the hollow place in both of my beings,” He mused. “That way, they each will always have an emptiness that only I can fill, a soul cry that will always, no matter what, call them back home. To Me, their Creator; no, their Father.”
A new fragrance entered Eden with the arrival of this new woman being, taken from the man being. Gladness filled the air, and with it, music and magic, and the Master was contented. “Laughter,” He sighed, “Fellowship.” He looked over the incredible spanse and saw life flourishing, and the vibrance of His handiwork, and He knew it was good. He then gave instruction to His beings, dominion over all He made for them, how to tend to all of it. Lastly, about the one restriction He spoke clearly to the man. “You must not eat from the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden. Only from this tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the Tree of Life, must you not eat from, for you will surely die. But all else is yours to enjoy.”
Then the heart of the Master felt knit with His beings. In all of creation He could not have imagined anything greater than what had been crafted by His dream. Their innocence necessitated a need for their Creator but He had breathed eccentricity into each living structure and given them reign over all He had destined them to inhabit. The Master was touched by the wonder and awe He saw in the rawness of their hearts. “Now, this is love,” He affirmed.
During the month of February,
come with me as we JOURNEY through
the greatest LOVE STORY ever written.