Work ______. If I had to fill in that blank space, my first reaction would be to fill it in with the word “stinks”. Anyone who knows me knows that I tend to be lazy and avoid work that I see as unnecessary. Ironically enough, one of my greatest satisfactions in life is completing something that I have begun. School started this week for many of us. Many of us have jobs as well. This is a perfect time for us to focus on work.
The Bible is very clear about the value and necessity of work. Proverbs itself has over 20 verses specifically addressing the importance of work. Ecclesiastes speaks a great deal about work as well and talks about how satisfying work can be. Ephesians 4:28 tells us to work so that we may have something to share with those who are less fortunate than us. My point is that there are hundreds of verses in the bible about work. Here we will focus on Genesis 2.
Genesis 2: 5 says, “Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth and no plant had yet sprung up, for the LORD God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground…” I gather two parts from this verse that are significant. 1) Without man, God’s creation is incomplete. We are valuable to him and the reason he made this earth. 2) Without man working, God’s creation is incomplete. No shrub or plant had appeared because there was no one to work the earth. God intends us to be workers of the land, an essential component of his creation.
A second verse, Genesis 2:15 says, “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” This verse is more to the point and straightforward. God placed Adam in the Garden of Eden so that he could work it and take care of it. Adam’s job was to commune with God and to work the land. We are the same way. We are to commune with God and to work. Those are essential pieces to the puzzle that is discovering man’s purpose on earth. We are God’s prized creation, and without us and our work, the rest is incomplete.
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