Genesis 2:19 NIV – “Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name.”
Slow down. Stop multitasking. Stop planning. Stop thinking about your plans. Let your focus be undivided even if only for a moment.
Let’s get back to the beginning when man was created. God placed him on the earth to work the ground and tasked him with naming all of the animals. Can you imagine being Adam faced with such an insurmountable task? I can only imagine myself thinking, “This is going to take forever. What’s my travel itinerary going to look like? What if I run out of creative ideas? What if God doesn’t like my ideas?? What’s the deadline?”
But do not read Genesis 2:19 too fast. Adam named the animals with the authority, knowledge, and understanding that God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit gave him (Gen 1:26). He was able to give names to God’s creation because God endowed Himself into Adam (Gen 2:7). He was abiding in the Lord and the result of His efforts reflected what God would have done.
What I find the most interesting is that God asked Adam to name the animals in the first place. He does not need help naming the very creatures he created. He named his creation all through-out Genesis chapter 1. That simply means to me that God desired to be in partnership with man. He desired the sort of intimacy that grows through collaboration. That was the original, untouched by sin, relationship; a partnership.
What am I getting at? God did not design whatever he has entrusted you with to be done alone. He is not giving you busy work. He wants to be your partner. His purpose has always been for his creation to engage with Him through their work. Do you complete tasks for the checkmark or as a way to engage with God?
What would be different in your life if you modeled the original relationship?
PRAYER: Jesus, thank you for refocusing me. It’s so easy to get lost in the shuffle of all the demands, responsibilities and projects on me. I forget that your original intention was and still is to be intimate with your creation. It was not to stress me out with work. Changing the purpose behind my responsibilities is going to be hard, but this is something you desire from me (Colossians 3:17). Please teach me how to engage with you in everything that I do. In Jesus name, Amen.