If you’re anything like me, it’s tempting to think that, prior to Genesis 3, life was pretty good for Adam and Eve.

After all, my thinking goes, what did they have to do besides hang out with God and be super-spiritual.

Can you imagine the conversations?

“Why yes, Eve, that’s EXACTLY how I would interpret that scripture.”

However, I’m not really sure it was like that. In fact, Genesis 1v26 drops this uncomfortable bombshell:

Then God said, “Let us make humanity in our image to resemble us so that they may take charge of the fish of the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the earth, and all the crawling things on earth.”

That’s a lot to do. In fact, it sounds suspiciously like…

work. 

In other words, the garden wasn’t just about hanging out; it was about working.

In other words, this means work is not just a means for us to pay our bills; to get along in this broken world.

It means that God gave us work as a gift.

For me, there are two implications here:

1. My work is a gift.

2. Everyone has a right to work.

It’s tempting to think that my work is a curse, but Genesis implies that work is something noble, something given…

It’s grace.

Somewhat relatedly, everyone has a right to this grace. It’s not up to us to deny someone the right to contribute, to feel a part of something.