Genesis 2:15
God created Adam to work! When God was busy creating the heavens and the earth, His plan was always for humanity to work, taking care of His creation. Adam wasn't put into the garden to live a life of idleness. 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." Just a few verses earlier, Genesis notes that, after creation but before humanity, "there was no one to work the ground" (2:5). Adam wasn't created to be lazy--he was made to work!
There are some in our society who see work as a burden. People look forward to the end of the day. Some are "working for the weekend." Others are counting the days until retirement. But God intended us to be doing something rather than sitting idle.
I wonder why. This was before Adam and Eve sinned, so life should be perfect. Why would God want us to work? I think one reason is because He works. The Bible begins with six days of God working and contrasts that with His rest. The rest of the Bible is about God working out our salvation. God is an active god. Since we're created in His image (Genesis 1:26), we too are created to be active.
Today is Monday, a day that has the reputation of being a "downer" day. It's the day that is the furthest from Friday and the weekend. But instead of thinking that you have to make it through the week so that you can rest on the weekend, remember that you are doing what you were created to do. This week, work with purpose--you were made to work.
I'm guessing that tending to a garden sounds pretty good to everyone who sits in a windowless cubicle from 8 am to 5 pm every day.
ReplyDeleteThat's a great point, anonymous. I know a number of people who are not unhappy about working in general, but who don't like their supervisor or their coworkers or their tasks. I've posted a little bit about those things before, but I've made a note to myself to write more about dealing with unpleasant situations in future posts. This post was really more about those feelings that "I don't want to work" period. But yes, tending a garden would sound pretty appealing to someone that was sick of cubicle-ville. Not all jobs are created equal.
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