7To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. 18It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. 19By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”
Ahhhhh…..Labor Day Typically representing the last summer outing, even though there are a couple weeks of summer left, officially on the calendar. My husband was anxious to get fall décor in the house, so we have our leaves, pumpkins and scarecrows everywhere giving the house, inside and out, that cozy fall feeling. Even our bedspread has changed to fall leaves! “But it’s not fall!” I squeal. He insists that Labor Day is the unofficial beginning of fall! I give in…I do really enjoy fall! So, what’s Labor Day anyway?
It is the Federal Holiday when the country recognizes the labor movement and the contributions of all laborers in the United States. It was officially recognized as a holiday in 1882 by President Grover Cleveland. Many workers had protested previous to that date for more humane labor conditions and for 8 hour work days. Finally that became a law, and our modern work day came into being, along with better conditions for workers.
I was thinking about this. I seemed that before covid-19 came on the scene we had more jobs than we had workers. I saw HELP WANTED signs all over the place. Even now there are many places still hiring. Working is the back-bone of this nation. We have been hard workers since we came over on the Mayflower. Do you wonder why we work so hard? Well, beside the fact that we have to work to eat. Actually, that is the ‘curse God gave to Adam when the ‘first family’ disobeyed.
Genesis 3:17-19 17To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. 18It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. 19By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”
This happened in the third chapter of Genesis! It amazes me how quickly we can get involved in doing the wrong thing! Sometimes I hear people saying how hard it is to do the right thing when there are so many wrong choices all around us! Yes, yes there are, however when Adam and Eve had the most perfect Paradise, and almost no ‘bad choices’, they still got into trouble. Listening to the wrong voice, desiring something they could not have, believing they were smarter than their creator. Should I go on?
If we would be honest with ourselves, we would find we fall for the same traps set for us by the enemy even today! A recent trap that is getting people into trouble is the thought that you don’t have to work. The government owes us our sustenance. Even recently the government ‘owes us’ to the point of paying off a loan for our education! I’m appalled. How many folks worked with their sweat and tears until they paid off that loan that they signed their name to. The government’s function is to ‘protect and defend.’ Our job is to get a job! So, it’s Labor Day once again. I do hope you will enjoy it with your family and remember the blood sweat and tears that went into the labor of making this country great! Hey, get some fall leaves out for me, and try not to work too hard!
By the way, I often went to ‘first day of school’ on my Birthday, or Labor Day!
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