Is Work a Blessing?

Genesis 3:23

Being born in 1942 was a blessing, being born in Corpus Christi, Texas was also a blessing, and being born into a family of five, with an older brother and sister and a mother and dad was also a blessing.  Being born to parents who came out of the depression era and who had very little in the way of stuff was also a blessing.  Being born to parents who love the things of God was also a blessing, but as I reflect back on those years, one of the greatest blessings was that they taught us from the time we were children the value of work, the blessing that came from doing a job well.

Somewhere, we as a people have lost the blessing of work, but from the beginning it has been in our D & A to work, and out of that came satisfaction, the feeling of accomplishment that is ours when the day is over.  If you will go back to the beginning with me, it becomes very clear that God designed us with work in mind.  Genesis 2:15, “The Lord God took the man and put him into the Garden of Eden to work it and keep it.”  The plan from the beginning was for man to work, and after man sinned, the plan did not change.  Genesis 3:23, “therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken.”  God’s plan for man had not changed and in the book of Proverbs 14:23, “All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.”  When I think of profit my mind always equates profit to money, but that is not true, self-worth is of great profit; the value my hard work has to someone irrespective of financial value, and a great example is a stay at home mom.  She is one of the unsung heroes, her hard work often goes unnoticed, but the significance of her service to the family is of the greatest worth.

The apostle Paul tells us in the book of Ephesians 4:28, “He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need.”  Each time I read this verse, my thoughts go to the United States Congress, but as a society we have learned to steal and no longer call it stealing.  We take what is not ours, whether that be time, or stuff, and no longer does our conscience seem to bother us.  The apostle Paul has the answer for our neighborhood, our Cities, our State, and our Nation in 1Thessalinians 4:11b-12, “But we urge you brothers, to do this more and more, and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may live properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one.”  What is Paul urging us to do more and more, show brotherly love, and mind our own affairs, and find value in working?

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice