Up until recently I have thought about Adam's curse to painfully toil the ground (Genesis 3: 17-18) in relationship to my career. Working is not meant to be easy and thus it is a result of the fall that I do not enjoy my job. Well on Saturday I got to experience what actual painful toil was as I uprooted bushes with my wife. I got blisters all over my hands and she got poison sumac. Our pastor's sermon on Sunday spoke right at the heart of this as he preached on the redemption of not only man, but all of creation.
So not only have I been confronted with the realities and pains of a groaning creation (Romans 8:22), but have also been able to gain some perspective on this curse. While it is true that all of creation has been affected by man's sin and fall from paradise, I have not fully appreciated the affects of God's redeeming work in my life. Becoming a new creation in Christ is more than just putting away the old man. It is also discovering the newness in quality that Jesus Christ has made us. Not only are our sins forgiven, but we are also given a new quality with which to live life (2 Corinthians 5:17).
I have not been recognizing that quality of life and have been carrying the burdens of my soul. I have allowed countless fears to blind me and keep me focused on the hard toil of the ground. Do you recognize the beautiful life that God has waiting for you when you embrace his Son? Halfway to Hazard has a song called "Devil and the Cross", and the climax says, "Don't ever be ashamed for God forgives the lost, we all live somewhere in between the devil and the cross". Are you living the life of the cursed land, the cursed people? Or are you living the life that was given to you by the cursed man hung upon a tree (Galatians 3: 13)?