One of the unfortunate results of Adam and Eve’s fall from grace involves producing the goods necessary for life. In the garden God provided everything—mangos, peaches, air fryers filled with chicken nuggets—all ripe and delicious. But now not so much. The Lord explained the new reality to Adam:

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.

Along with toiling in the dust, you and I came from dust and will return to dust. History points out that lots of people better than us are today nothing more than particles of soil. Next time you pass a cemetery give a thought to the sobering finality represented by the headstones. Our time in this world is a mere dot on the ever-expanding line of eternity.

What will we make of this period between dust and dust? A good part of my time is spent earning the food I eat. But in the midst of such labor will I live only for myself? Or might I help others discover the God who forms us from dust?

As I consider this reality at the start of a new year I’m compelled to question my daily priorities and practices. How will I interact with God, myself and others in this brief interlude between dust and dust?

Genesis 3 in Through the Bible in 2024

Photo by Kunj Parekh