Created to Work
The first of several lessons from a study on the biblical understanding of work.
This is the first of a series of posts inspired by those days when, even in the ministry, a job feels like a job.
I was curious what the Bible had to say about the subject of “work”. So I started a topical study plan on Logos. What follows over the next several posts are my thoughts on their recommended passages from Scripture.
With the hope that by the end of this study, we’ll all learn from the biblical understanding of work and apply it to our lives.
We were created to work.
We are told that after forming the human from the dirt, God put the human in the garden to “till and keep it”(Genesis 2.15).
In Hebrew, the word for “to till”, obda, means “to work” but also “to serve.” Consequently, the latter meaning captures the positive view of work that God intended when forming us — that we were created, not for a life of idleness nor for God to wait on us, but for a life of fulfillment through service.
And that’s important. Because when we’ve felt that we’ve been of some service in our work, that feels pretty good. And that’s how God intended it.
Our work mirrors God.
Before creating us to work, the Lord Godself worked — six days, before resting. And while creating us, God worked like a potter, to form us from the dirt — from the clay.
So when we work, we imitate God in a way. Somehow our work might bring light in darkness. Bring a new day to someone’s night. Create something good. Something beautiful.
Yet of particular note is not just the work, but the work pattern that God modeled, in that God also took time to rest and renew — to Sabbath, just as God commanded us to do in the Ten Commandments.
As a pastor, I probably have an easier time connecting (some of) my work to that of Jesus’, while you may find it more difficult to see what your job has to do with God’s.
But regardless, we must pay particular attention to this work pattern that God established. That in creating the world, God struck the perfect balance of busy-ness and rest. That even God couldn’t just work-work-work.
The command to Sabbath is a call to connect with God. To stay rooted in a reason for our lives and for our work. And a mandate to step away, so that our lives don’t become work-work-work.
Our work should be connected to God.
Note, that before “the Fall” work was part of the fulfilling life that God had intended for humanity. Joyful service, as it were. And it was only after Adam and Eve disobeyed and got disconnected from God that work became issabon — i.e. toil or hardship (Genesis 3.17).
Looking back on our experience, maybe it wasn’t the work that became toilsome, but us becoming disconnected from God, effecting everything.
Maybe it wasn’t our job effecting our faith, causing us to shrink from personal devotion and regular worship. From skipping a group meeting, worship service, or three. Maybe it was our faith — or lack thereof — that had begun effecting our jobs, such that they became toilsome.
Because, job or no job, when we get disconnected from our relationship with Jesus, which ought to come before all else — especially our jobs — we risk falling under Adam’s issabon curse.
