Land - An object of blessing or curse [Part-1]..

Land is a place where we live. God made this land on the third day of creation. The very first man was given a piece of land to work on. Abraham was called by God to go to a ‘land’, He would show him. Likewise, ‘Land’ holds a special place in the Bible.

Land is something people are proud to own. Families, tribes, countries and many others have fought over a piece of land. People eye for good, and productive land.

To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat of it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. Genesis 3:17,18

God cursed serpent, woman, and man in Genesis chapter 3. He said to the serpent that it will crawl on its belly and eat dust. He said to the woman that pain of childbearing will be greatly increased. But to man He said “cursed is the ground because of you”. The other two had to suffer with their bodies. The God cursed Man by cursing the land. Why? For God had given Man a piece of land, Garden of Eden, to work it and take care of it. (The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. Genesis 2:15)

Sometimes, God gives us something to take care off. It may be some talent, wisdom, or even people to take care off. We might enjoy toiling in it. God always want you to yield good fruits but when we disobey God, results may come contrary to what we expect. Thorns and thistles are produced for our painful toil. We find it very depressing. Hence, obeying God is the only solution to avoid the desired results from getting tarnished.

The curse was to work or toil on the ground to produce harvest but it would not ensure good harvest, sometimes thorn and thistles would be produced. But later on in Leviticus 25:4,5 God says, “But in the seventh year the land is to have sabbath of rest, a sabbath to the Lord. Do not sow your fields or prune your vineyards. Do not reap what grows of itself or harvest the grapes of your untended vines. The land is to have a year of rest.” It would remind everyone that the land has the capability to produce on its own. The land doesn’t need our toiling to produce. Sabbath year is to remind us all, that God is the only one who sanctifies us, He is the one who decides what the results need to be, and how we must get it.

Sometimes we think we are the only ones responsible in our family, church, office or anywhere we work hard. We assume the results produced are because of our hard work and toil. But the truth is, God is the one who pulled the strings, we were just puppets dancing to his tunes and the clapping we hear are all for the one who pulled those strings. Noah was told to make the ark; he was given the blueprint of his ark but that doesn’t mean Noah has the key of the ark. God is the one who will close the door of the ark, He will decide where this ark is headed to. And when He does so, Mount Ararat will not be an object of destruction but a place where the ark will rest.

The land we are proud of, the land that God gave us, needs to be worked and toiled upon. But remember we are not the only ones responsible for the result but a God who controls the result. For He is also toiling and working on our lives and we are waiting in the QUIVER OF GOD.