“For Dust You Are,

And To Dust You Will Return”

So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, “Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals!

You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life.

And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”

To the woman he said, “I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children.

Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”

To 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.

It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.

By 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.”

Generis 3:14-19

Some see in weeds a reminder of Adam’s sin. By eating the forbidden fruit, Adam and Eve brought on themselves the curse of a fallen world – relentless work, agonizing birth, and eventual death.

However, there is beauty in weeds. The anguish of childbirth holds hope for us all. Death is ultimately defeated. The “Seed” God speaks of is Jesus Christ himself, who rescued us from the curse of death.

The world may be broken, but wonder awaits us at every turn. Even weeds remind us of the promise of redemption and a Creator who loves us.

Creation reminds us of the promise of redemption.

Our Daily Bread – June 23, 2015