Free Republic

In Genesis 2, we read about how God wants us to work. Verse 15, “And the Lord God took the man and put him into the Garden of Eden, to work it and keep it.” Gardening, farm work, yard work. In 1 Corinthians 10 and Colossians 3, we’re told that whatever we do, we are to work heartily and diligently, as if we’re working for the Lord and not for men. And in 2 Thessalonians 3, we read that if anyone is not willing to work, then he should not be allowed to eat. Work is essential, not just for...

Shaking his head and staring down at me, Jaybird said, “I almost feel sorry for yo’ brother. For him, it’s sho’ been one helluva bad day.” It was a torrid July day in the summer of 1961. On my father’s Mississippi Delta farm, a huge field was covered with 80-pound hay bales that had to be loaded by hand onto trailers and hauled to the barn. At five o’clock, Dad opened the bedroom door. “Hay time, boys, git up. Jaybird is waiting outside for y’all.”