Did you know that weeds only grow where people try to cultivate the land? Another proof the Bible’s true!
Weeding! Don’t you love it? Years ago, I found this quotation in a book called Controlling Weeds by the Ortho lawn care people: “Where do weeds come from? It’s important to realize that the presence of weeds is directly related to our own activities and that they appear when the native vegetation is disturbed. This is true of the areas cleared for homes and especially for those garden areas where we plant and nurture flowers, vegetables, fruits, and lawns.” That sounds like Genesis 3:17-19! There God told Adam, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall NOT eat of it’: Cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return.” What a thing! This is God’s 5-finger rule for a fallen race: Curse…toil…thorns…sweat…dust. Disobeying God reaps a curse instead of a blessing. The word “toil” comes from a Hebrew word for “worrisome.” Disobedience results in worry, not peace. And it brings hurtful thorns and thistle-like things instead of the sweet fruit of the Spirit: you know the list—love, joy, peace, and so on. In the place of rest, there is sweat: over-exertion and under-production. And at the end of the journey, it’s just dust: “to dust you shall return.” Anyone who doubts God’s Word at least has to believe that! And yet, disguised in that curse, there IS a blessing. The Bible says, “It’s good to work with your own hands” (see 1 Thess 4:11). Imagine how much trouble we’d get into if we didn’t have to work!