Genesis
2:15-17 The Lord God took the man and put
him in the Garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded
the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the
tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that
you eat of it you shall surely die.”
God
gave Adam leadership responsibilities. He was given a helper, Eve, to assist
him in living out God’s mandate. In the Garden he had been given specific
duties to cultivate and keep up God’s creation. In essence he was to nurture
and protect that which God had entrusted to him. In verse 16-17, we read that
his own needs would be met from the Garden he was to keep and cultivate. Only
one prohibition existed; he was not to eat of the tree of the Knowledge of Good
and Evil.
God
gave to Adam a woman, Eve. She was suited for Adam as a helper in his work.
They were to be one in their devotion to God and each other. Together they are
servants of God and stewards of the Garden. Their responsibilities are to
nurture and protect what God had given to them. He would lead the duties and
she would help him realize their goal of serving God and maintaining the
Garden. Together they labored.
Leadership is knit into our being men. Without
shame, we are able to embrace this role. God leads us to fulfill every
responsibility He gives to us. In prayer and faith in God we accomplish His
plan for our lives. However, if we abdicate our responsibility to another we
will find trouble. Giving away the responsibility we have from God will lead us
away from His plan for our lives. When this happens, we will find the same
strife and friction in our relationships as did Adam and Eve.