All of us are called to some form of work while we live in this world. Work itself is a blessing, not a curse; it was part of God’s original, created order that he deemed “very good.”
However, because Adam failed in his divinely mandated task to “keep” (i.e protect) the garden, the ground itself was cursed with futility, and that same curse extends to our work today. We toil and labor only to find that thorns and thistles have grown up, and only by the sweat of our brow do we eat bread and provide for ourselves. We look for much and it comes to little.
“He who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes.”
And yet, it is a gracious and good thing in the sight of God that we apply ourselves diligently to the work He has given us:
“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward.”
By nature this is not a trivial matter, but one of life and death:
“If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat.”
But Jesus turns the created order on its head by giving us the bread of life, feeding us without money and without price! We who believe are fed by heavenly manna; we enjoy fields that we did not sow and vineyards that we did not plant; and we are promised an eternal inheritance that we could never afford apart from grace.
Because of these great blessings, we are motivated to be all the more industrious for our heavenly Master. In Jesus we have life, and out of that life we draw the strength we need to glorify Him in our work, no matter how trivial or exhausting!
“Everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God’s gift to man.”
“There is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his work, for that is his lot.”
Lord, help me to glorify You by my labors here on earth, whatever they might be!