Day 9 – Why and How We Should Work

“How do I view work?” This question is significant because many of us may hold wrong underlying assumptions about work. Today there seems to be an attitude among Americans, Christians and non-Christians alike, where work is seen as a necessary evil, a fork in the road on our drive to contentment. It seems that our culture and society tell us that we should try to work as little as we have to, and retire as soon as we can. When we open the first few pages of scripture, we find just the opposite. The God of the Bible is a worker. From the creation of the world until today (John 5:17) God is at work. In paradise, the garden of Eden, the first responsibility that God gave to man was to work. Work has always been a part of God’s plan, it is not a result of the fall. Work has dignity because it is something that God does and because we do it in His place, as His representatives. Though work neither began or ceased with the fall, it took a different shape. Man was originally a gardener and the curse turned him into a farmer. The truth of the matter is that today work includes pain and frustration.

Read Genesis 2:15-17, Genesis 3:17-19, 2 Thessalonian 3:6-12, & 1 Timothy 5:8

Q: Many people, Christians included, consider work a negative thing. How would you try to argue against that using Genesis 1-3?

Q: Why do you think Paul gives this warning to the church? Would the same warnings be true of today’s church?

Q: What obligation do followers of Christ have to their family?