Then to Adam He said, "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, 'You shall not eat from it'; Cursed is the ground because of you; In toil you will eat of it All the days of your life. "Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; And you will eat the plants of the field; By the sweat of your face You will eat bread, Till you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return." (Gen 3:17-19)There it is, plain as day. Only ... it's not. Notice that the curse is not work; it is hard work. We know that work is not a curse because before he ever sinned God assigned Adam and Eve work (Gen 1:28; Gen 2:15, 19-20). Labor was of value. The curse was not labor; it was hard labor.
Okay, so maybe a distinction without a difference. Interesting, then, that Jesus says, "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest." (Matt 11:28). Oh, that's appealing, isn't it? It should be; that was His point. But He didn't say, "I'll remove your labor." He said, "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." (Matt 11:29). Hold on, now. "Yoke" evokes images of oxen working hard. It does, but it also includes hard work done together rather than alone. A yoke ties two animals together so they can share the load. And it is His yoke, so it is a good thing. And it includes "rest" in there. Labor is not gone, but it's also not a problem. He says it provides "rest for your souls". How is that possible? He finishes with, "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." (Mat 11:30).
We can celebrate Labor Day, then, because Christ celebrates labor. He can alleviate the "heavy laden" without removing valuable work and, in that, provide rest for your souls. Happy Labor Day ... as long as it's that labor we celebrate. (Frankly, I'm not too keen on celebrating "labor unions.")
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