17 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. 18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you,     and you will eat the plants of the field. 19 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.”REFLECTIONSWritten by Stephen SheadToday we hear the rest of the “fall-out” from the Fall. Like yesterday, here we see how life is now a mixture of blessing and pain. This time, we see that with God’s good gift of work.In the garden, the task of working the garden was a blessing and a joy – creation wouldn’t resist man’s tender care, but would flourish (see Genesis 2:8-15). But in the fallen world of Genesis 3, work is now “painful toil” (v 17).Rebecca and I are trying to improve our backyard, and just the other day I commented that nice grass takes such a long time to grow, but weeds seem to spring up overnight. We’re in a losing battle with “thorns and thistles” (v 18). Providing for ourselves or our family is now “by the sweat of your brow” (v 19). Earning a crust is often difficult, tedious or painful.As Christians, God calls us not to respond to the toil of work by complaining, slandering our bosses or being slack and lazy. Instead, we are to be diligent and work hard “as working for the Lord”, knowing that he will reward us for our faithful service of him (Colossians 3:23-24). Having said that, it’s also a great relief to know that we are heading towards eternal rest with Christ!The final and most terrible judgment at the Fall has no blessing in it at all: we are condemned to return to dust in death (v 19). Although we are made of physical matter, God made us to be much more than just “star dust”. Human death is always a tragedy.So again, what comfort there is in the gospel! To finish this whole section of Genesis 3, reflect and pray using these verses from 1 Peter 1:3-7:3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.QUESTIONWhat do you think is the saddest thing about people dying? Why is it such good news that Jesus rose from the dead?ABOUT THE AUTHORStephen is our Senior Minister and leads our Bossley Park Congregation.