AIM
To help the pupils to realize that work is a part of the infinite plan for the development of character; to make it evident that it is noble to be a worker, and to lift the everyday duties of home and school from the plane of drudgery to that of joyous cooperation in God’s purposes.
LESSON PREPARATION
The gospel of the dignity of labor has never been adequately preached, therefore the preparation for this lesson may include the entire reversal of what has been ground into the teacher’s consciousness from the beginning until now, concerning the place of work in the world. For many years people have read the Lord’s words to Adam after the fall, which consigned him to the task of wresting his sustenance from the unwilling earth, as if that were the introduction of work into the world, and as if it were, therefore, brought in simply as a punishment for disobedience. This was evidently the thought in the mind of the poet who sang,
Dear work! art thou the curse of God?
What must his blessing be!
Throwing aside all such misconceptions, read the material for this lesson with the thought of finding in it how, under the ideal conditions of Eden, work was given to man which would require the use, and therefore minister to the development of his physical powers in tilling the ground; how his mind was given exercise in plans for guarding or “keeping” the garden and in naming the animals; and how the higher spiritual powers were called into service when he was given a companion in association with whom the emotions of love and tenderness would find expression. It is implied also in Genesis 3:8, that God was wont to meet with Adam and Eve in the garden and talk with them there.
The picture that we get as we study this passage in this way has in it the elements of congenial employment, companionship, obedience to the highest law, and communion with God, and these are exactly the elements that will bring the nearest approach to the ideal in any life to-day.