Work For It: By The Sweat Of Your Face

In Genesis 4:19 God let’s Adam know right quick that because he and Eve screwed up big time by doing the one thing God told them not to do (eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil), they would have to work their butts off to make a living for themselves going forward. 

The Birth Of “Hard Work”

Before they sinned, they had all the food (and water, shelter, and provisions) they ever needed. The Garden of Eden was the greatest farmers market EVER! They had access to meat, vegetables, fruit, grains, all they needed. They didn’t have to work for it…it was everywhere. Ready for the taking. 

But after they sinned, as part of the curse for their sinful action, God took away the ease of gathering food and made foraging for nutrients a laborious job. In God’s own Words, “By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread”. In other words, going forward, Adam and his descendants (that’s you and me) have had to put in the hard work to get the provisions they need. 

Hard Work Is Mandatory

Nothing has changed since the fall of man on that sad day. 

We should be busting our butts to supply for ourselves. If our body and mind is able, we should be putting in the work…day in, and day out. Supplying for ourselves, our families, and those who don’t have the physical or mental ability to supply for themselves (that’s called ministering by the way). Handouts are not an option (again…unless we can’t perform work due to physical/mental reasons…DUH)!

Unfortunately, Laziness Has Set In

As a society, a large (and growing) number of our population has become entitled. To a fault. There are physically and mentally fit men and women who would rather have their food, shelter, and other provisions handed to them…without having to work for it. No need to “work by the sweat of your face” anymore, just decide to live a lazy, meaningless, unhealthy life, and leech off of others.

Laziness doesn’t just impact our basic living necessities, it impacts daily maintenance needs too. Don’t believe me, just drive around the neighborhoods in your city or town. Look at all the unmowed lawns. Check out all the cars in driveways with flat tires (that have been flat for weeks…months…years). And the trees! Can nobody trim a tree anymore? 

Beyond those I trimmed trees you’ll notice roofs that need to be fixed. Trim that needs to be replaced. Fences that need to be fixed. Decks and gardens that need some major TLC. TONS OF THINGS THAT NEED ATTENTION…but aren’t being addressed because the homeowner (or renter) is too dad-gum lazy to walk out his front (or back) door and do basic upkeep on the property! SMH!

Lazy Is My Middle Name

If it sounds like I’m being very specific…it’s because I am! All those things I just mentioned…those were things that needed my attention…at my house. My lazy @$$ ignored all sorts of things that needed attention, and because I did, my house started to deteriorate. The value of my home was plummeting! Why? BECAUSE I WAS A LAZY SLUGGARD! 

I didn’t trim my trees, paint my house, fix my fence…and it showed! What’s worse, if I ever did decide the grass needed mowing…I’d pay someone to do it. I didn’t even have the energy or desire that it took to spend the 45 minutes it takes to mow my yard. Y’all!!!

What God Has Shown Us

One of the many blessings that has come from our healthy journey is an understanding of what laziness is and an understanding of how to combat laziness. A huge part of taking control of our lazy tendencies has been the ability to address it on God’s terms. 

The Bible goes in depth on the whole concept of laziness and how to address it and defeat it. There is so much biblical application that can be used to kick our slothful tendencies to the curb and regain control of our life.

Thankfully, a major part of 75 Hard (the program that changed our lives) was (and still is) reading. Through reading my Bible daily, I’ve been able to see just how much of my life was spent being lazy…not tending to the things that matter most…like my relationship with Courtney, my finances, maintaining my home/property, and most importantly…continuing to build my relationship with Christ my savior. 

Bottom Line Y’all…

There is so much we can do once we choose to take back our lives from the grips of laziness! But first we have to be honest with ourselves and take a long hard look at ourselves in the mirror (and a look around the house to see what we’ve neglected). We gotta ask ourselves some questions. Is there anything I can be doing to make my life better? Am I being lazy in the area of relationships? Am I neglecting my health due to laziness? Is being lazy having an impact on my home? Are my lazy tendencies keeping me from being financially secure?

If you’re like me, and so many others in our society, the answer to these questions is a resounding YES! 

Now what? Now we pivot back to the life God intended for us to live. A life that is defined by the hard work and effort we “put into it”. A life of hard work that started because of sin, but that God has used to bless us through…despite the hardships. Why? Because He is Awesome God!

Over the course of the next month(ish), I’m going to dive deeper into the idea of “hard work” and the blessing it is. Hard work isn’t something to run from…it’s something to embrace and use to reach our full potential in God’s great plan for our lives. I hope you’ll check back to see just how you can harness the God-given power of hard work as you strive to live the life you deserve!