“ALPHA AND OMEGA” (DAY 2): TEXT: Genesis 2:5-25

Our text for reflection today presents us with another account of the creation, different from that of Genesis 1:1-2:4. However, we must not be led into thinking that Scripture is contradictory in this regard, since the two accounts are not the same. What we must note is that different authors were inspired by God to reveal divine truths to us, and in this case, the truth that God is the Creator and Sustainer of the world and all it contains.

REFLECTION

• From the text, we realize that without the breath of life (God’s Spirit), we are merely empty clayey vessels. We are truly alive when we are filled and moved by the Holy Spirit, cf. Jn 6:63, Ps 104:29-30. Do we pray to be filled and moved by the Holy Spirit? 

• God made provision for the man He created. He is Jehovah Jireh (God, our provider). He knows our needs even before we ask them, cf. Mt 6:8. Caring so much about our material needs is therefore a sign of faithlessness. Do we trust God for our needs?

• Again, in this text as in the former, human beings are entrusted with the care of God’s creation. How responsible are we in the duties entrusted to us at home, school, church, the work place, etc.? God created us to be responsible people; people of integrity.

• In the text, two specific trees are mentioned: the tree of life, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The tree of life could be seen to be symbolic of the divine privilege of immortality. God not forbidding human beings to eat of the tree of life indicates that He created us to partake of His immortal nature.

• God, however, prevented human beings from eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Not eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil means that what is good or evil is not determined by our individual thinking. God is the source of all goodness; He is goodness itself. To know the good and do it, we must take instruction from Him alone. We must therefore accept to be good what God teaches us to be good, and evil, what he prohibits (His commandments). Do we always seek God’s will or we do things according to our own feelings?

• God created a woman for the man and established a bond of companionship between them, by bringing the woman to the man. Friendship is therefore a gift from God, and must be utilized well. We must enter into friendship with a clear conscience and there will never be guilt or shame on our part. The ultimate expression of companionship is marriage; the union between a man and a woman. Let’s pray for those seeking marital partners, and mutual love for those already married.