WHY WORK?

God gave us the ability to create wealth (Deuteronomy 8:18), a valuable gift that accompanies our identity in God. Each one of us has an ability that His other creation don’t have and each person is unique in that ability. After Adam was created, God gave him a garden to work on and commanded him to work and flourish, expand, multiply and manage his creation. Before the fall, man was expected to continue what God has started by managing his creation.

If Adam and Eve were asked to work despite the fact that they did not have problems providing for themselves, then they did not work to survive but worked for another reason.  This can give us a wider perspective about our work, God’s point of view.

We should be asking the question,  why do we work if it is not only about eating and addressing our needs? Jesus has removed the curse from work. Adam and Eve were asked to manage God’s creation. Without work, God’s image and likeness in man cannot be expressed.  God’s  invisible qualities cannot be seen in a visible world. For us then, who work in a fallen world where sin in present, we work not only to feed ourselves and families but in order to grow, discover  what we are capable of doing and demonstrate God’s qualities in a visible world.   This means growing in our work.  For us who work to survive because we find no choice, we can change our perspective and pray to God that He brings us where He wants us to be. Sometimes we feel that the answer takes time, but God first does something to prepare us for the next assignment before He brings us  there.

If Jesus has removed the curse from work we don’t work to survive but find a larger meaning in our work. Wealth is created as a result of work. That is our reward and our role to be a blessing is fulfilled through this. The fall of Adam and Eve brought about the loss of our identity which we can only regain in Jesus Christ. Because of the loss of our identity, we have become insecure, trying to find security in wealth, forgetting that the ability to create wealth it is already given to us. Instead of adding value to this world and being rewarded with wealth,  we chase wealth.  The more we do that, the more insecure we become. The deception escalates as we forget the giver of that ability. This is the reason for our confusion.

Let us then work, and as we work using our ability, thank God, the giver of that ability and start regaining our identity. As we establish our identity, we will find the reason for working and find joy and fulfillment in it.