January 5, 2026

Business by the Book

Genesis 2:15 And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.

Adam’s work was to dress and to keep the Garden which God planted. Likewise, those today who work at providing goods and services to others utilize, in part, God’s natural resources that He put on, and in, the earth. A solid understanding of this truth has many benefits to those who embrace it. One such benefit found is a greater appreciation for Genesis 8:22. While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.

This verse reminds mankind that the Lord God is on the job; He is doing His work, and part of His work is to maintain all that He created. Everything is under His careful watch care including: the supply of minerals, the laws of nature, the principles of electricity, and the change of seasons.  For example, photosynthesis is the process in which flora and fauna convert carbon dioxide into oxygen. Every day God is overseeing this process by maintaining its efficacy (effectiveness).

All year long, every month, every week, every day, every moment, the Lord God is giving mankind that which we need to survive and earn a living. He keeps proper oxygen levels, the tides at bay, the energy in solar power, fresh water through the evaporative process, the planets in place, the sun rising in the east and setting in the west, the laws of mathematics, the laws of electricity, the laws of energy and matter, and so much more. Everything that mankind needs for life and making a living God has given and God maintains. Certainly, the proper use and replenishment of God’s natural resources should be a priority, for there is no excuse for wanton misuse of that which the Lord has placed in man’s hands. But make no mistake, the greatest power in Heaven and Earth is the Lord God Almighty. He is at work enabling us to do our work.

To me, business is nothing more than being busy in the work of making a living. Making a living is, in part, dependent upon God’s natural resources which He regularly maintains for man’s benefit.  Your work may differ from mine, and mine may differ from another, but we all profit from that which God created and maintains. He is the great hero, the great benefactor, and the great enabler.  As such He According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness,… (II Peter 1:3) Yes, the work was Adam’s, but the growing of the plants in the garden, the pollination of the plants in the garden, the germination of the seeds planted in the garden, the watering of the plants through the daily mist in the garden, was of God’s loving hands doing His work.

Likewise, He works for us today. As we in turn work for ourselves, our families, and for those who know and love Him for Him.  Tomorrow we begin a series about negotiation.

Dr. William Howe