February 2

7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

8 ¶ And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the men whom he had formed

9 And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil

10 And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads

11 The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold;

12 And the gold of that land is good: there is idellium and the cinyx stone.

13 And the name of the second river is Githon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia.

14 And the name of the third river is Hiddle kel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates.

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

16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:

17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

18 ¶ And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a help meet for him

19 And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.

20 And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found a help meet for him.

21 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept; and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof.

22 And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.

23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of man

24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

One of the happinesses of paradise was employment—not idleness. And God Himself chose for Adam his occupation. He has done so also for each of us. In the garden where God puts you He will find your work; some flowers to rear and cultivate; some human minds to which you may do good; some plantations of Divine grace which you may dress and water, and so be a fellow-worker with Him who gives the increase.

God also placed man under a law in paradise. For our own sakes, for our own true happiness, God would have us keep Him in our thoughts. The yielding up our own will to His has greater sweetness to the taste than pleasing ourselves ever had.

"To every human being, not less than to Adam, God has given a garden to till and to keep: it is the garden within him. Alas! this garden of the soul is no longer an Eden. An enemy hath come and sown tares (Matt. xiii. 25). Instead of the fir-tree has come up the thorn, and instead of the myrtle-tree has come up the brier (Isa. lv. 13). Nevertheless, the capacity of paradise still lies latent within us all. . . . And when we let Christ have His way in our hearts; when we let Him drive the ploughshare of His Spirit's conviction, uprooting tares, and thorns, and all baleful weeds; when we let Him sow the good seed of the kingdom, which is the word of God; when we let Him quicken it with the warmth of His breath, and water it with the dews of His grace, and hue it with the sunshine of His beauty; then does paradise lost become paradise found; then is brought to pass—oh, how gloriously!—the saying of the poet-prophet, 'The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose' (Isa. xxxv. 1)."—G. D. Boardman, D. D.

Closet Promise.—They desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for He hath prepared for them a city.—Heb. xi. 16.

"Lift, lift thy wondering eyes, yonder in Paradise. And these that throng to meet thee are thy kind— Redeemed from sin." And this fair shining land are spirits of that land;