Management Is a God Thing

Genesis 3:23… “therefore the LORD God sent him (Adam) out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken.”

From the popularity of game management today, it’s obvious that we hunters have an innate desire to manage the land and its wildlife. Have you ever wondered what is behind that desire to work the land and improve its production? Well, it’s not new with us today. It goes all the way back to the beginning of man’s existence. When God send Adam out of the Garden of Eden, He instructed him to “cultivate the ground.” Every time I’m on my tractor, I think about that verse. There’s something about working the ground that appeals to men. It runs deep. It goes to the heart of our goal-oriented nature; the cause and effect motivation that so drives us men. Even Solomon, described as the wisest man in the Old Testament, when he wanted to “enlarge his works” (Ecclesiastes 2:4-7), he planted vineyards, made gardens and parks, planted all kinds of fruit trees, made ponds of water, and possessed flocks and herds. He managed the land!

I’m often asked, usually by someone not close to the land, “Why manage, why not just accept what’s there?” The question ignores a basic truth – it is man’s nature, given by God, to “cultivate” his environment to improve it. We hunters are no different. The desire we have to manage land and wildlife is from God. He has given us stewardship over our land and its wildlife. That is why we hunters, as stewards of the land and wildlife, find such satisfaction is managing what God has entrusted to us. It’s a God thing!

Posted by David Morris