Do you love work? When I was a child, I used to think that God gave work as part of the curse! But of course, that’s a lie. God introduced work at the very beginning. As soon as God had created the Garden Home, He put the man in it to work and guard it. The Hebrew word “avad” for work means “to serve, till, labor, to make weary.” That sounds like hard work.
But work is a blessing. Physical work saves us going to gym. Work releases creativity. In my last post, I shared how God created us to be creative beings with the anointing “to make.” But work precedes creativity. As we work, we think of better ways of doing things. More efficient. More ingenious. And then of course, when we think of these things, we get involved in more work. But that will release more creativity. Isn’t that exciting?
Let’s embrace work with a joyful and exciting attitude? Let’s have the right confession. Do you ever say, “I love work.”? I love to say these words.
Get your children to love work. This is a very important habit to instill in them while they are young. It breaks my heart to see lazy children who don’t want to work. They haven’t been trained. We train our children to work. Not by nagging them. Not by yelling at them to stop being lazy. Not by punishing them. But by encouraging them. By thinking of ways to show them how to make it fun.
Work is part of human dignity. Work is an expression of the image of God. He is a Creator and therefore He works. After resting on the seventh day, He began working again. He created the Garden of Eden and then He planted a garden. Yes, God, the ruler of the universe, prepared the soil and put His hands right into the soil and planted (Genesis 2:8)! Some people think they are better than God and they would rather not get their hands dirty.
Jesus said: “My Father is always working, and so am I” (John 5:17).
God looks upon all work as holy, whether it is sacred or secular. Working in your home—scrubbing toilets, changing diapers, vacuuming, preparing meals, and washing dishes are just as sacred as the pastor preaching on Sunday. We often think of the priests as holy men of God. But the majority of them were butchers, slaughtering beasts and cutting them up all day long. They were tough and I am sure had well developed muscles. Others were bakers and cleaners and watchers over the temple (yes, they were bouncers!). And they were all holy and anointed for these “sacred” tasks.
Oh yes, something I didn’t tell you. I left it until the last. Another meaning of the word “avad” means “to worship.” Work is worship to God. When we do it with a willing and joyful spirit, we are actually worshipping God because He created us in His image to work! As you are busy working in your home, you are worshipping all day long.
Are you getting excited about work? Gather your children around and remind them how God created work for our blessing. It is holy and sacred. And when they do their chores with a willing heart, they are worshipping God. And if they try to do them to the best of their ability, God will show them better and quicker ways of doing them. And they’ll have more time for play!
I love work, don’t you?
Love from Nancy Campbell
Photo: My granddaughters, Georgia, Breeze, and Haven working hard to rake up leaves in the woods for my compost pile.