As I got more and more familiar with the scriptures, I learned two words that much better summarize how a man should live: “Cultivate?And save. “
Together, these two words summarize the biblical mandate for male behavior. Men are called to be men, fulfilling their vocation before God in this world: “Did the Lord God take man and put him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate and keep him?(Gen 2. 15) In fact, our vocation in life is so simple (but not easy): we must dedicate ourselves to cultivating/building and maintaining/protecting everything that is under our responsibility.
- What exactly do these two words mean? Let’s take a moment to take a closer look.
- In this article we will see the first and the next the second.
First, consider avad, the Hebrew term translated into Genesis 2. 15 as “cultivate”. It is an extremely common word in the Old Testament, and may appear as a verb or a no. As a verb, does this usually mean “working, “serving,” “cultivating,” or “performing acts of worship. “As a name, do you usually refer to “servant”, “officer”? Or “worshipper. “Since the context of Genesis 2 is the Garden of Eden, we must first consider how avad is applied in the agricultural sense. Adam was called of God to prepare and cultivate the garden, so that it may grow and bear fruit in abundance. Commando?Cultivate? It is associated with the previous mandate to be fruitful and fill the earth (Gn. 1,28).
What does a gardener do to grow his garden? Take care of the garden; it grows it, plantes seeds and prunes branches. Dig and fertilize, his work makes living things stronger, more beautiful and more exuberant, while working he is able to contemplate and see that he has accomplished good things, there are rows of tall trees, rich wheat fields, abundant and colorful vineyards. Flower beds.
My favorite summer job in college was working for a landscaper. Have we driven to work every day? In general, is anyone home?Plant trees, build garden walls and plant rows of shrubs. It was hard work, but rewarding. What I liked the most was looking in the mirror when we left and seeing that we had done something good and that it was going to grow.
According to the Bible, this type of work describes one of the two main platforms of a man’s vocation. It is not that all men have to work literally as gardeners; rather, we are called to “cultivate” any dominion God has given us. Men must be planters, builders and farmers. A man’s professional life should be devoted to activities, usually within the framework of a company or other group of people. We need to invest our time, energy, ideas and passions to do good things. Therefore, a faithful man is one who is dedicated to cultivating, building and creating.
Take, for example, the professional life of a Christian: our vocation for work is to invest in actions of value. Men should use their gifts, talents, and experiences to succeed in causes that (if married) will support their families. It can be anything that feels good. A man can make glasses, do scientific research, or run a shop; the examples are almost infinite. But in each case, our work mandate means that we have to dedicate ourselves to building good things and getting good results. There is nothing wrong with a man who works alone to earn a salary, but the Christian rightly wants his work to generate more than money for himself and his family. Christian men should also desire to cultivate something worthy of the glory of God and the well-being of their fellowmen.
Definitely ours? It includes not only things, but also people. We must recognize that man’s call to cultivate means that we must become involved in the hearts of those entrusted to us: the people who work for us, the people we teach and supervise, should a man’s fingers be accustomed to working in the land of the human heart, the hearts of those he serves and loves , so that you can do some of the most precious and important works of this life?
This biblical mandate to cultivate, here with an emphasis on development and benevolence, destroys a great misunderstanding regarding gender roles. We have been taught that women are the primary caregivers, while men should be “strong and calm. ” But the Bible calls men to be active, and that includes a strong emphasis on caring for the hearts of those under our care.
A husband is called to feed his wife emotionally and spiritually. This is not a secondary act of her calling as a husband, but it is fundamental and central to her male call in marriage. Similarly, a father is called to have the goal of plowing and feeding the hearts of his children. Any counselor who has dealt with childhood problems can tell him that few things are more harmful to a child than their father’s emotional isolation. There is a reason why so many people are paralyzed because of their relationship with their parents: God has given men the main call to emotional and spiritual provision, and many of us are not doing well.
It is through the male arm around the shoulder or a pat on the back that God grants faster access to a child’s or employee’s heart. Men seeking to live the male mandate will be suppliers.
In this book, Richard D. Phillips cuts the smokescreen of cultural confusion and highlights God’s mandate for men. Beginning in the Garden of Eden, the author brings fundamental teachings that cover all areas of life and encourages men to follow a path of repentance and renewal. towards biblical masculinity.