SEARCH
My First Book:
The Right Attitude About Our Job
Posted in: Uncategorized by DannyTice on May 12, 2010
I read a statistic the other day that states that only 39% of people under the age of 25 enjoy their work or jobs. Of all ages only 50% of workers enjoy their jobs. Another stat said that 40% of people would change jobs if they had the option. There is a lot of discontent out there regarding working. The Bible talks about work a lot. There are over 380 verses of scripture that mention work. Obviously God is concerned about this big area of our lives. We spend 50 to 60% of our waking hours at work. Yet many people are miserable while they are working. If we can improve our attitude about work and begin to enjoy working then the quality of our life will go way up. Some people that are reading this blog may be in a job that isn’t your final resting place vocationally but even if you are in a job that doesn’t match your ultimate employment ambitions you can still have a paradigm shift in how you look at your work. Here is what we all need to remember when it comes to work:
- Work is an expression of the creative nature God has given me to improve the world around me. The first person mentioned working in the Bible was God. Ironic isn’t it that God was cited as working. One would think God would not have to work but after the creation story in Genesis 1 it explicitly says that “God rested from his work.”
Genesis 2:2-3 2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3 And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. NIV
God was a creative God who when he encountered the negative state of the world in Genesis 1:1-2 – the earth being filled with confusion, void and darkness – God went to work and re-ordered a negative situation into a positive situation. All work is us being an instrument of God turning negative things into positive things. Teachers, plumbers, physicians, construction workers all encounter the negative and constructively turn the things in front of them into positive things. To enjoy work we need to see that we are operating out of our creative imprint from God to improve the world around us. Any line of work, when properly understood has meaning and improves the world around it.
Work is caring for the creation that God has made. Work proceeded the fall of man and sin entering the world. We falsely conclude that work was part of the judgment on man when sin entered the world. Wrong! Work was introduced by God to man before sin entered the world. Here is how the scripture paints the picture about work: “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 NIV) This is the first work assignment ever given to anyone. It was given to man by God. And the summary of it was this: “I made this garden and I want you to take care of the garden I made.” Basically the first work assignment God gave to Adam was to take care of the creation he had made. Work then is taking care of and serving the creation of God. I am part of that creation. When I went to BJ’s the other day to get new tires for my car the gentlemen working in the garage was very passionate about getting the perfect tires for my brand of car. He was meticulous and passionate about his work and told me a lot more about tires than I really wanted to know but he was serving me. I ended up with a great deal on great tires and I experienced someone serving me a member of God’s creation. A landscaper that creates beauty around a new home is serving the creation of God. The mother who wipes the snotty noses of her little children chasing her around the house is serving the creation God has made. The grocer who delivers quality groceries to the public is serving God’s creation. In short all work is sacred and sanctified by God and does these two things: work expresses our creative nature to improve the world around us and it serves and takes care of God’s creation. The great reformer Martin Luther wrote these inspiring words about work during his lifetime in the 16th century.
“The maid who sweeps her kitchen is doing the will of God just as much as the monk who prays—not because she may sing a Christian hymn as she sweeps but because God loves clean floors. The Christian shoemaker does his Christian duty not by putting little crosses on the shoes, but by making good shoes, because God is interested in good craftsmanship.” Martin Luther