Sanctifying the Fall

(Pro 13:11 KJV) Wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished: but he that gathereth by labour shall increase.

I need verses like this to balance the account of the Fall.  Adam was cursed with work.  Because of sin he would be condemned to earn his living by the sweat of his brow.  I liked to use that when people wanted me to dig ditches.  Work was the result of sin.  It worked for me but it doesn’t work for God.

Here we can see that “labor” (3027) is something that produces good things.  It may be hard, but then it is supposed to be.  As the old German proverb was translated by Nike, “No pain, no gain.”  I guess it goes back further than the Germans.

Jesus has sanctified it.  Now work is a virtue, not a punishment.

So?  I doubt if I need to tell you to get a job.  I am retired so I don’t need that advice.  What I do need to hear is that getting out and working in the yard has a value on its own.  I need to be reminded that when I mop the floors it is glorious to do a good job.  I don’t have to like it.