A Parent's Joy - Genesis 2:19

Genesis 2:19-20 Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name.

I love the inquisitive nature of young children when confronted with a new creature. A friend of mine once took his one year old daughter to my house and there was one such interaction. His daughter’s eyes scanned the new environment as they entered the door and quickly locked onto my orange tabby cat. Her face shown pure amazement, with eyes as big as dinner plates. Once on the ground her desire to watch was eventually overcome by her desire pull the cat’s tail from his body and stick it in her mouth. This was followed by the typical prying of fingers off the irritated cat before he reached his emotional breaking point, and then showing her how to interact more positively.

As fascinating as it is to watch a young child interact with a creature for the first time, it is equally interesting to watch the parents. They also watch with wide eyes and unconscious smiles, observing every move their child makes and taking great joy from the interaction. They stand close enough to inject themselves in the situation if needed, but just outside the child’s vision. They laugh goodheartedly at the child’s amazement as he or she independently works through this novel scenario. There are a million different subtleties in how the child could respond. For the parent to look away could mean to miss a unique and amazing response.

The interaction of my friend’s daughter and the orange cat describe some of what I see happening in Genesis 2:19. I can say without qualification that God could have completed this task Himself and then just told the man what the names would be. After all, he created everything from nothing. However, it makes sense to me that at a minimum God is extracting a parent’s joy from this situation and man is learning to interact with creation in a positive way. God didn’t give the instruction and say “have it done by tomorrow when I get back”. God did it “to see what he [the man] would name them”. You see God created this amazing creation, filled with complexity and beauty beyond our comprehension. He then created humans in His image. He didn’t create puppets, he created Pinocchio. We were given the ability to respond and relate to God and his creation in a million different beautiful ways. The realities of our sin temporarily stole some of the beauty and joy in this, but not all of it. Ultimately we still have a loving Father, that numbers every hair on our heads and gazes on us, waiting to see every unique and amazing response. How then will we respond. Will we pull the cat's tail or pet it, will we destroy or steward God's amazing natural world.