How Households Rule over the Land
This is the second part of Chapter 2 in the unfinished Book: The Ruling Household.
Here are links to The Intro and the first part of Chapter 2.
Guard and Cultivate
“The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.” (Genesis 2:15 ESV)
Why did God create man? What is his unique God-given assignment?
He was given territory and then told to cultivate and guard the land he was given.
This is a direct parallel to the commands given in the first chapter of Genesis. He cannot be told to be fruitful and multiply since no woman was given to the man but he can subdue, fill and rule. We’re given a concrete picture of what that looks like as Adam cultivates the garden and takes responsibility for watching over it.
Every man must know the borders of his garden.
When the nation of Israel was brought into the Promised Land each family was given a plot of land. Each family knew the borders of their land.
Everything within those borders was fully their responsibility.
Men learn wisdom by leading their families to work their land.
Observing how different fathers ruled their land was how Solomon showed his son what wisdom looked like.
“I passed by the field of a sluggard, by the vineyard of a man lacking sense, and behold, it was all overgrown with thorns; the ground was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down. Then I saw and considered it; I looked and received instruction. A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.” (Proverbs 24:30-34 ESV)
The way God disciples a father is through his land.
The way we discover the character of men in our life is by observing what is under his dominion.
“He must manage his own household well…” (1 Timothy 3:4 ESV)
This is why, by the way, I don’t like HOAs (Home Owners Associations). HOAs seek to protect the value of each house in the neighborhood by enforcing common rules and standards. But imagine if I could walk around the neighborhood with my son and stand in front of every house and he could learn about the man inside simply by looking at his garden, his yard, his animals, his family, and the state of his house.
I’d be willing to take a hit on home value to gain that kind of wisdom.
We live near Amish country. A few times a year we drive through these fields and it’s a shocking experience to see one field after another cultivated in meticulous detail despite the lack of many modern technologies used only to turn a corner and see a street with old trailers covered with overgrown weeds, yards filled with broken down cars and to be greeted by a gang of aggressive, half-starved dogs.
This is a living proverb about wisdom, manhood, and stewardship.
These fields tell stories.
Whoever has ears to hear let them hear.
Establish Clear Borders
Can you draw the boundary lines around your area of responsibility?
Borders exist to teach us wisdom.
They tell us where foolishness ends and wisdom begins.
That’s why the property lines must be clear.
Our Enemy hates borders because he doesn’t want us to learn wisdom.
It starts small. A boy is given a body to rule over. He’s given a bed, eventually a room. As he grows into manhood his territory expands. He’s given more and more power over his time, his decisions, and his network of relationships. God then may give him the gift of a spouse, children, a house, a business, a ministry.
Clearly mark off the borders. Learn the precise perimeter under your rule. Hear the words of Genesis that the Lord God has placed you in a garden to cultivate and guard it. Feel the weight of responsibility on your shoulders to live worthy of the size and scope of your territory.
Don’t seek to rule over a square inch more than you can guard and cultivate.
Once I got way over my head. I purchased a 6-acre plot and like Adam before me, I failed to properly cultivate the land. I lacked the skills, the time, the money or the character to subdue, fill and rule a plot of land of that size. I sold it to a friend who has done an amazing job of cultivating every square inch of that land. I purchased a much smaller plot of ground and while I struggle every week to keep up with all that this land requires, it feels like just the right size for me and my family. We find it challenging but not overwhelming.
I’ve had to accept the fact that for me it’s better to have less physical land because most of the territory God has given me to oversee is abstract. My territory includes businesses, ministries, and lots of relationships. I often have my hands full.
Tool: Walk the Perimeter
We live in a day that champions rights and ignores responsibility.
We want to declare our rights over what belongs to us: this is my room, my phone, my car, my business, my kids, my house, my vote but every declaration of ownership comes with the responsibility to steward what belongs to us.
Stewardship requires vision, cultivation, and management.
Fail at any one of those steps and it may be a blessing to lose stewardship over those things that currently belong to you.
We should only desire to own the things we can properly steward.
A practical way to practice this is when you own a house, regularly walk the perimeter.
This is the first step in training in what it means to fill, subdue and rule.
As you walk the perimeter of your land try and see a vision for every square inch of the land you’ve been given. When you can envision the purpose of the land then begin to fill the space. Push your vision to the boundaries of your stewardship. As you fill the land with your vision it’s time to get your hands dirty. Cultivate the land to bring it into alignment with your vision. Enjoy the process. Seeing something go from raw potential to cultivated beauty, order, and purpose is one of the greatest joys of being a father and leading a family. After you’ve subdued the land then walk the perimeter in order to ensure everything in your domain continues to serve its envisioned purpose.
We envision to fill the land.
We cultivate to subdue the land.
We manage to rule over the land.
And this filling, subduing, and ruling happens over all that you own and steward. Every room, every dollar, every technology, every asset, and over your family as a whole.
If your family controls something and year after year you have no vision for its purpose or you lack the skill, energy, or time to rule over then let it go. Let another more capable family take ownership of that asset.
I was having coffee with a wealthy venture capitalist in Jerusalem several years ago. He told me he was leaving our meeting to work his olive orchard that afternoon and he told me why, “If I don’t work my field God will take it away from me and he should.” Every square inch of Israel is contested land where there’s been a continual fight over who has rights to the land. This man’s answer was simple: God will give the land to those families who will properly steward it.
So as I walk the perimeter of my land I often ask, “Could another man’s family steward this land better than my family can?”
Our family manages a small real estate portfolio. My daughter Kelsey manages the properties, my son Jackson does renovations and maintenance, my wife April does the bookkeeping and financing and I find the deals and manage the business. I’d love to grow our portfolio but I feel challenged every week with the reality that I should only seek to acquire additional property if I properly rule what I already own.
It’s not about owning as much as you can but about stewarding well what you’ve already been given and “it is required in stewards that one be found faithful.” (1 Corinthians 4:2 NKJV)