Day 1 - Genesis 1-3

God said--"Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it."
Consider this--
I once overhead my father, who was a farmer, asking--"What are thistles for?"
Good question!
Thistles stand for all the things that stand in the way of obeying God's command to fill the earth and subdue it. There are thistles in every field and stones in every garden. There is the spirit of rebellion in every child. Every job has an element of tedium and frustration built into it.
So what are thistles for?
Simply put--Thistles are there to pull. There are many obstacles in the world that have been placed here solely for us to overcome them.
The scriptures say that God let thistles grow in the garden of the world as a punishment for sin. But punishment is not the only reason we have to work. Work is a blessing that gives meaning and form to our otherwise empty lives.
Striving makes having precious.
In overcoming obstacles and in sometimes failing to overcome them we discover what it means to be human.
In filling and subduing the world we discover in ourselves the image of God. And in failing to overcome our obstacles--in falling on our faces in he dust--we recognize ourselves as His creatures--like but immeasurably less than God.
The work of creation is hard. The Bible tells us that it wearied God himself. It demanded suffering even for God to create. And in order to make of new world out of the mess we made of His creation God had to send his own Son to suffer and die.
The work of creation always leads us to the cross. The Cross of Jesus Christ says that to be made in the image of God means to make, to love, and to suffer, as God himself makes, loves and suffers with the world. And the Resurrection of Christ promises that in our working, in our overcoming, and in our failing to overcome, you and I become fully one with Him.