A Garden for Adam and Eve

“Then the LORD God took the man and placed him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate and keep it.” — Genesis 2:15

The Bible tells us more about how God made the first man. God took some dust from the ground and shaped a man out of it. Then God breathed into him the breath of life, and the man opened his eyes and was alive! His name was Adam.

God planted a beautiful garden in a place called Eden. It was full of trees that were lovely to look at and good to eat from. A river flowed through the garden to water it. And in the middle of the garden there were two special trees: the tree of life, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

God put Adam in the garden to work in it and take care of it. Adam could pick fruit from every tree he liked. There was only one rule.

“You may eat from any tree in the garden,” God told him, “but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat from it, you will die.”

It was a very good rule, and an easy one to keep. The garden was full of good things, and only one tree was not for Adam.

Then God brought all the animals to Adam, to see what he would call them. Adam looked at each one and gave it a name. Perhaps he looked at the giraffe and the hippo and the hedgehog. Whatever Adam called each animal, that was its name.

But even with all those animals, there was no one quite like Adam, no one to be his friend and helper. God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone.”

So God made Adam fall into a deep sleep. While he slept, God took one of Adam’s ribs and closed up the place. And from the rib God made a woman, and brought her to Adam.

When Adam woke up and saw her, he was so happy! “At last!” he said. “She is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.” Here at last was someone just like him. Adam and the woman were husband and wife. Later Adam named her Eve.

So Adam and Eve lived in God’s beautiful garden. They had everything they needed. They had work to do, and each other to love. Best of all, God was with them. They were not afraid of Him, and they had nothing to hide. Everything was just the way God had made it to be.

Read it in your Bible: Genesis 2

Dear God, thank you for giving us people to love, and good things to do. Thank you that you made us to be your friends. Amen.