Since tomorrow is Labor Day, let’s consider a Biblical perspective on work. Was work a punishment from God upon mankind due to sin? No. Before there was sin in the Garden of Eden there was work. The Bible says, “And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the Garden of Eden to dress it and keep it” (Gen 2:15). But why did Adam have work to do in paradise? Why did God make it so? Several reasons come to mind.
#1 God had prepared an earth that would continue under the oversight of mankind. But there was a difference in the work Adam would do and in his identity. Adam and Eve were created to live in Eden and have fellowship with their Creator. Their identity was rooted in that relationship, not in their work. As someone once said, “If we do not derive our identity from our relationship with the Lord, our work will tend to shape and define us.” Work is good but let’s be sure to not let it overshadow our relationship with God.
#2 God detest laziness and idleness. “The way of the lazy man is like a hedge of thorns, But the way of the upright is a highway” (Prov 15:19). Christians understand the Lord’s attitude towards laziness, “If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat”. (2 Thess 3:10).
#3 There is value to self and others in the work we do. The Apostle Paul says, “Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need” (Eph 4:28).
Whether you are working for self or for God it matters. Regardless of what type of work you do, if your focus is on pleasing God there is internal satisfaction. How else could Paul admonish those who were bondservants to be obedient to their masters according to the flesh…..”in sincerity of heart, as to Christ; not with eye service, as men pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart” (Eph 6:5-6). Let’s be sure to put God first in our life and at the same time be diligent in our work realizing that our work is just another reflection of our relationship with God. “And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men” (Col 3:23).