Why Work
by Tan Sin Guan
Can you say that you enjoy your work? Do you feel
that your work is a curse to you, robbing away your joy and meaning
in life? Do you feel that God is not relevant to what you are doing
right now? What does God have to do with engineering or
architecture?
What was God’s original purpose when He
designed work? The creation account in Genesis 1:27-2:3 served as a
record to educate the Israelites on who their God is in comparison
with the gods of the other nations surrounding them. The Israelites
needed to know what kind of God they were putting their trust in so
as to strengthen their faith and prevent them from following the
ways of the nations around them. So what of God is the God of
Israel?
The God of Israel is Almighty, omnipotent and
wise. He is the creator and is above all creation. He is not the
trees or the stones or the rain or the thunder that many worship,
but He is the creator of them all. God is the source of life
itself! He breathed life into man. He is the source of all beautiful
things.
God is also the author of work and is Himself a
worker! Genesis 1:1 records that: "In the beginning God
created the heavens and the earth." The word
"created" signifies "action or work." Genesis
2:2 says, "By the seventh day God had finished the work
he had been doing and he rested." And in Psalm 104, we
find God is still working today, enjoying and sustaining everything
in the world He has created.
By reading and understanding the creation account
and Psalm 104 through modern lens, we can conclude that not only is
God a worker, but He is also a multiple-task worker. God is the
landscaper, the creative creator, a farmer, coordinator, architect,
engineer, designer, a boss with servants and so on. And in other
passages, be it in the Old or New Testament, we see that God is also
a lawyer, a physician, a counsellor, a pastor, a priest, a teacher,
a mother, a father and even a servant.
The fact that God is an active worker today has
great implications for us. If God has been doing what He is doing
today, it means that God is not only relevant to us, He understands
our struggles and difficulties too. Are you an engineer? He can help
you because He is also The Engineer. Are you a doctor? He can help
you because He is The Doctor. If you are a teacher, He can help you
too! He is relevant to our work today.
Since God is the author of work, it also means
that work itself is not a curse. Work did not exist only after the
fall of man but way before sin entered the world. Sin causes work to
be difficult, that’s all. God says in Genesis 3:17-19, "Through
painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life … By the
sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the
ground."
Today, work can seem to be a curse because of
problematic relationships, or excessively long working hours, or
unfair wages. Work can also seem to be a curse because of our own
perceptions and preferences. For example, suppose I had always
dreamed of becoming a doctor but ended up a salesman! Because of my
preference to be a doctor, perceiving this occupation to be
financially rewarding and highly respectable socially, I would hence
be enduring rather than enjoying my sales job. My work can also
become a curse if I have to continually strive to earn big bucks as
a salesman just to maintain my preferred doctor’s lifestyle.
Hence, in most cases, work can seem to be a curse simply because of
our perceptions, perspectives and desires. God never designed work
to be a curse.
Why did God design work for us anyway? The
following verses may throw some light on this:
Genesis 1:28, "God
blessed them and said to them, "be fruitful and increase in
number, fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea
and the birds of the air and every living creature that moves on the
ground."
Genesis 2:15, "The
Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it
and take care of it. "
God had created the heavens and the earth and
everything in them. And He perfectly sustains the whole creation
until today. He is in control of everything. But in spite of this,
God chose to give a portion of this responsibility to us. He chose
to share His work with us. As a result, whatever we are doing today
is actually by the grace of God and we are just stewards of
responsibilities God has entrusted to us. As such, it is our
responsibility to do our best in our work. God did it for many
reasons but the following are the three major reasons:
It is through our excellence at work that we can live out the image of God in us. As related in the
creation account, God created us in His own image. The
scriptures tell us in Genesis 1:26, "Then God said,
"Let us make man in our image, in our likeness".
There has been a lot of theological discussion on what
"the image of God" really means. But all of them
would agree that the image of God does include virtues such as
faithfulness, justice, patience, kindness, love and so on.
Work provides us with tremendous opportunities to exercise
justice, love, faithfulness and other godly virtues. We cannot
fully reflect God by just sitting around doing nothing. In
short, God wants us to reflect His image effectively; our
attitudes, work ethics and interpersonal relationships are all
important. Can people see God in us through our work?
God designed and mandated us to work because
God wants us to "bless." Apart from feeding and
providing blessings for our family, our work has intrinsic
value as well. If I am a furniture manufacturer, my work not
only helps feed my family, it helps to feed my workers and
their families as well. Furthermore, it contributes to the
economy and the well-being of other people.
God wants us to work because work is a
platform for our daily worship. We do not worship work but
doing the best for God in our work is worship. Worship is more
than spending two hours in church. God had given us 8 hours a
day, 40 hours a week to worship Him by faithfully living out
His image as well as blessing others. Paul highlighted in
Colossians 3:23, "Whatever you do, work at it with all
your heart, as working for God, not for men." Ephesians
6:7 recorded a similar instruction, "Serve
wholeheartedly, as if you are serving the Lord."
Do we reflect God’s image in our work? Have we
been honouring God in our work? Are you worshipping God in your
work? Work was never designed by God to be a curse. It was designed
to be a blessing. If for some reason we feel that our work is a
curse, we should repent and embrace God’s initial purpose for work
for our life. Let us purpose in our hearts right now that even in
the midst of challenges and difficulties at work, we will choose to
trust God to work in our lives, making every effort to reflect Him
and to keep on being faithful and persevere in Him. Our work is not
a curse; it is designed to be a blessing not only to us but also to
the people around us. It has eternal significance.
continue
Tan Sin Guan is director of Malaysia
Campus Crusade for Christ’s Impact! ministry. He is also an
associate pastor of Klang Chinese Methodist Church.
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