August 30, 2011

"To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. 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.”  Genesis 3:17-19

Is your work a job or a joy?

We established that work came from God. The first glimpse we get of Him in the Bible He is working! Creation was a joyful experience for Him but it WAS work! He found it necessary to rest on the seventh day.

After He created Adam the first thing God did was to put him to work in Eden, aka - Paradise. It is clear that work has a sacred aspect to it.

So, when did work stop being a joy and become a job? What changed that working became more of a pain than a pleasure?

Sin happened. Adam got on the wrong side of the Boss when he disobeyed God. Everything changed after that from a labor of love to labor. Because of sin his relationship to the Boss changed and his attitude toward his job changed and his motivation for work changed. That took the joy out of the job.

Before Adam sinned he worked to please the Boss. After sin he had to work to pay the bills. Before he sinned all of nature was working with him, but the curse of sin was that nature turned against him. Suddenly the earth was not as fertile and weed and thorns grew like wheat and corn once did.

If you have a hard day on the job today, you can blame Adam! He caused work to change from joy to a job. But rather than feel sorry for yourself, feel the sting of sin and determine to turn from it. Decide to get right with the Boss and put Him in charge of your attitude. Remind yourself of the sancity of work and do your job in a way that honors God. As you work to serve the Lord, the joy will return to your job!

Work at bringing the joy back to your job.

August 29, 2011

 ^"By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done."   Genesis 2:2-3

^"The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it."  Genesis 2:15

Maybe it is just me, but doesn't it seem a little strange that we would honor the Labor Movement in America by taking a day off of work?

In advance of the Labor Day week-end, I want to share some Biblical perspectives on work. Like every relevant thing that happens in your life, the Bible has quite a bit to say about work. For instance, our verses referenced above shows where work came from - GOD! God created work!

The very first time you see God in the Bible guess what He is doing - WORKING! If you don't think that creating the universe was work then explain why God set aside a day to rest from His work. Sure, God is different fom you, but the reason people generally rest is because they need a break from working.

Maybe you don't feel like your job is divine, but the concept of work is! Notice that not only did work originate with God, but when He placed Adam in Eden one of the first things He did was set him up with a job! He was to tend to the plants and animals that God had placed in Paradise. Talk about a dream job and a perfect work environment - move over Apple headquarters!

Work is worth celebrating! Maybe it would be more appropiately celebrated by actually working, but work is God's idea for His creatures! Work has God's seal of approval!

So, you may want to re-examine your attitude toward work in view of the fact that it is God's idea and His invention. And further, I had a college professor who proffered the idea that if you want to know what heaven will be like, look at Eden since it was the original paradise! There could be some validity in that view. It would be easier to make the case that it's true than to argue it isn't. Therefore, you can figure that there will be a job awaiting you in Heaven. Dying doesn't get you out work but it will certainly get you a better Boss!

Celebrate God's gift of work!