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Monday, October 16, 2006
Work Is Not The Enemy!
("DON'T WASTE YOUR LIFE - Part II)
Teaching by Eunice
"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
Most of us have the wrong idea that work is that it is not really part of the mission God has assigned for our lives on earth and only 'gets in the way' of everything else that we want to do. (Work may be said to be any activity that is not related directly to church, such a studying, planning one's time or cleaning the house.)
Here are three wrong mindsets busted:
Wrong Mindset #1: "We are saved to go to church, not to work".
Truth: We were created to rule over the earth.
Work is not an 'unspiritual' thing. God Himself worked to create the earth! (Genesis 2:2 - "...on the seventh day he rested from all his work."). And Man, who was made in God's image, was created and placed in the garden of Eden - for what? to slack all day? - Nope, it was actually to work!
Two things can immediately be seen: Living in the garden of Paradise was not an exemption from work - man was created to work! Adam would not have been happy if he was idle, just as we are all designed to get true pleasure from the work God employs us to do, pleasure that cannot be derived from idleness. Also, the curse (Genesis 3:17) under which we live today is that in our work, we struggle with weariness, frustration and anxiety - not the work itself.
* * *
Wrong Mindset #2: "Our secular life is not important to God, only church is."
Truth: God is extremely interested in our secular activities and how we fare in life!
In John 21, we read the story of how Jesus gave his disciples advice on how to catch fish when they remained empty-handed after a whole night of trying to catch fish.
Although the disciples were seasoned fishermen, they were not able to catch any fish on this occasion. However, since Jesus was the God of the sea, He knew where exactly the fish were. In each of our lives, God is the master of the problems we face in our work, such as exam papers, difficult essays or nerve-racking CCA drills, etc. and he is looking out for us, ready to provide his help, even at the moment when we think we have failed. Although we may feel that all these things are secular, minute, unimportant and not related to church, God takes as much interest in how we fare in them as in our 'spiritual' activites!
* * *
Wrong Mindset #3: "Work cannot glorify God because it's secular."
Truth: Work brings out the beauty in God's doctrine.
Titus 2: 9-10 - "Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Saviour attractive."
Our attitude to work is really one of the most powerful ways in which we can show those around us how beautiful God's teaching is. Having a good work attitude enables people to take note of our behaviour and our religion. When we work, we should use the opportunity to benefit those around us, not just seek to prove our personal best in our abilities and achievements. Also, the way we live out our beliefs - eg thanking God throughout the day, being mindful of the skills he has given us, and casting our cares on Him, shows those around us that we are doing our work in partnership with God.
* * *
As can be seen, God created us to live with a single passion: to live for His glory - in other words, to joyfully display his supreme excellence in all spheres of life, including work!
What struck me most about this teaching was the realisation that rather than being a chore, work is actually the gift of God, a task entrusted to us and a means God has given us to derive pleasure, not to deprive us of pleasure! Quite a radical shift of mindset from the man-in-the-street's resignation to the thought that work is boring.
And it was very reassuring to know that with Christ looking out for us and ready to help us in our work, it need not be a torture or something that isolates us from God, as long as we involve Him in our daily working life and not be blinded to the fact that He can be with us at all times, not only when we engage in 'spiritual activities'.
- Joanna
More Bible references to think about:
Proverbs 18:9 - Whoever is slack in his work is a brother to him who destroys.
Col.3:23 - Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men...
2 Thessalonians 3:10-12 - For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies. Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living.
James 4:13-15 - Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit"--yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that."
Proverbs 26:13 - The sluggard says, "There is a lion in the road! There is a lion in the streets!"
the alleged @ 2:28 AM
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