October 18
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GENESIS 1
28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 29 And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. 30 And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. – Genesis 1:28-31
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GENESIS 1 MANDATE TO BE FRUITFUL & MULTIPLY
A poem inspired by these verses by ILMA
When God created man and all living beings, he mandated us to produce
The Lord wanted his creation and creatures to fill the earth and bear fruits
He is a God of bounty and productivity; he invented and generated life
He didn’t create the world to be without fruits, extinct or dead.
As humans, we were given the privilege to rule over other breathing beings
Let us be responsible to follow this mandate so we can enjoy living
Let us multiply every gift that we receive from God in order to praise him
Let us not be fruitless and constantly feed on his word so we can avoid sin.
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Humans were given the dominion over all the other living creatures. We were mandated to bear fruits and multiply. This does not only mean to make more humans, but would also mean that we grow whatever it is that we have received from the Lord like gifts and talents and resources. It is sad to watch many believers who do not follow this mandate to be fruitful and produce. In John 15:8 Jesus says “By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.”
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REFLECTION
• In John 15:6 Jesus says: “If anyone does not abide in me, he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.” Is this verse a consequence of the mandate to be fruitful and multiply? Why or why not? How come many don’t take this directive very seriously?