DISCERNING THE LORD'S BODY Part 4: Redeemed From The Curse Of Sweat.

 | Spiry Tee

"And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground."
Luke 22:44 KJV

This was the first place the Lord Jesus shed His blood for us and it was significant in God's plan of redemption. Do you remember what God said to Adam when he transgressed?

"Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.” (Genesis 3:17‭, ‬19 NKJV). How depressing it might have been for Adam.

To be clear, we must establish that work was given to Adam ever before the fall. Work is God's idea but toiling to eat bread is not. Work was given to man to bring him fulfilment not provision.

God has always wanted to retain the place of provider and protector of man. Man was never created to rely on his hands for provision.  It all came because man chose to become the god of his life and when you become god you must fend for yourself.

Adam was immersed in goodness and abundance in the garden which God himself planted. See life before the fall: God planted a garden with everything inside including the tree of life and God gave Adam the keys and said to him that the only thing he needed to do was tend it and keep it.

After the fall things changed: Adam chased out of the garden, told to plant his own garden, grow his own food because the trees in the forest will be largely thorns and thistles. It was a tragedy of eternal proportions.  Adam was to sweat his way to the grave.  A worthy judgement for his sin.

But in the judgement there was mercy. A Savior, a Seed of the woman was promised. And in His first act of atonement, our Savior did sweat blood. All the stress and toil of man was laid on Him. He was exceedingly sorrowful for us. The tension was so high that His capillaries bursted and when His blood touched His sweat and both hit the ground, the curse of sweat was eternally broken.

Man can now trust the blessing of the Lord that makes rich and adds no sorrowful toil with it (Proverbs 10:22). God wants you to look to Him for your provision and not trust in your own understanding and hard work.

A Christian who boasts in his hardwork doesn't realize that there is pride behind it all. There is a big difference between hard work and diligence.  Diligence is man's precious possession while hard work pictures toiling and sorrow.

What do you choose? God as your provider and your own hands.

God can give you sweatless prosperity if you trust him. The prosperity Obed Edom enjoyed when the ark of God sojourned in his house and in only three months the fame of his blessing went abroad.

Solomon was the richest man that ever lived because God made him rich without sorrow. Other kings became rich through spoils from sweaty and dangerous battles but never once did Solomon wage war. This is what a blessing looks like. (Ref: 1 Kings 3:13).

It is not what you get that matters but how you get it. God's way or your own way. Your own hands or God's own hands. Don't let the world teach you life, yours is cut from a different cloth. You're hewn from the everlasting Stone. Dare to be different.

It is not the one who works the hardest but the one for whom God has worked for the hardest on the cross. Remember the race is not to the swift, the battle to the strong or riches to men of understanding or hard work. Eternal life means freedom from toil and sweat. Jesus came to give us life and life more abundantly.

Why are you working today? Is it to fulfill God's plan and purpose for your life or it's for your survival only? I hope it's the former.

SPEAK OUT
I am delivered from sweat and toil. The Lord causes me to lie down in green pastures. I have entered into rest. My provision is in God and not in my work.