Genesis 3:17-24 KJV
(17) And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
(18) Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
(19) In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
(20) And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.
(21) Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.
(22) And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:
(23) Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.
(24) So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

Today Is Earth Day. A day man is using to remind themselves to take care of the world, yet they do not seem to know the origin of the maker of the earth. The term mother earth is often used when describing the wrath of nature, or the production and fruit of the earth. Yet though man comes from the earth, he did not always live upon the earth, for God had placed Adam in the garden of Eden. From the time of creation of man, man was blessed and told to be fruitful and increase in number. God told man this. God told man his blessing, yet with one sin man lost the inheritance of heaven and found himself cursed as he was sent out from the garden of Eden. Sin caused thorns and thistles of the earth to have a need to be hoed out of vegetable garden. Those vines of poison ivy, oak and sumac were also punishment for sin. Our labor beginning to abound with punishment, giving man no time to be idle and in disobedience to God.

If one is not willing to work hard, in taking care of a garden, one is not going to eat. My husband talks of how his dad would go to work and tell him the garden better be hoed by the time he got home. My dad was always afraid I take the weeds and the good plants out of garden, and only let me pick the vegetables. Yet God called us to weed and to pick. He called us to care of the earth. No one wants to pick and choose what is a veggie and a weed. No one wants to take out the garbage and throw it in the compost pile. Yet there time for cleaning and time of planting.

As I began my tomato plants this week, my thoughts turned to how we are called to produce and to care for the earth. The thick soil touching my fingers and digging into the earth felt refreshing, yet the water to clean off the dirt felt equally as good. There is something about being close to nature that makes one feel a part of life cycle. To feel the ability to begin hope of new plants by the simple putting a seed in the dirt.

As we think of our garden, we must think of spring cleaning and how even the garden of our homes that are meant to be productive, also needs cleaning. Rummaging through old boxes, and looking at shelves of do I really need that, is part of spring cleaning, no one enjoys, but a basic need to get rid of junk or trash for another season. God called us to separate the good from the bad. Yet he called us not to be discriminators of people. He did not call us to be exterminators. He did not call us to kill. He did call us to defend ourselves, but He never called us to destroy another person.

Israel history of destruction of another city or town seems not right when reading about the destruction. Even the livestock was destroyed of these villages. The evil had gotten so bad in these towns that these towns were harming others. They were destroying and terrorizing others societies, that is the weeding of humanity that seems justified by God. If God does the weeding he sends a storm. If man does the weeding he starts a war. Some wars over money and others over abuse. If only about abuse of a people then the laws have to changed and a take over in place. If that does not work destruction is the recourse.

Earth day is about taking care of what God has given us charge over. He gave us charge over people, over the earth, over the animals, and over those weeds of destruction. Are you going to do some weeding of that closet, and those shelves? Are you going to do some weeding and toiling of the garden to produce life once more. Life is also like that. Each of us has to take time and get rid of the junk in our lives. The things that are not productive to well being. A time of reflection, often seen only at new year and revival. Earth day is not just about caring for the earth but caring for humanity. About our ability to clean up the things in our environment that is harmful like pollution, and garbage that lines the roads and city streets.

Get rid of the pollution first in your life and tend to your life on a daily, weekly and yearly bases. Weeding out the things that are not productive or good for you and others. Reminding yourself those thorns in your life are for a purpose if nothing more but to weed it away.

Dear Heavenly Father help us to tend to your garden and to bring forth fruit of production and not fruit that rots. In Jesus precious name, Amen.