Promise:
God values work.
Passage:
The story of the Garden of Eden holds many clues for those wanting to know the heart of God. When you zoom out on the specifics of the accounts, you find a few things that might shed light on your own life and work. Let there be light! (see what I did there?)
First off, God worked. Using words and vision, he created the universe. In Genesis there are 2, possibly 3, distinct creation accounts woven together. What scholars call the Priestly account is found in Genesis 1:2-2:4a and is a majestic, sweeping 6 day narrative where male and female humanity was created together. The second, called Yahwistic account started in Genesis 2:4b and goes through 3:24. It is a more intimate, earth-focused story where Adam (which is a genderless word meaning “ground”) is created from dust, then the animals, and then Adam is split down the side (translated “Adam’s rib” in some accounts) into two to create male and female. A third, highly summarized account, is found in Genesis 1:1, which makes the point. God is behind it all. From the beginning, God worked and it was good.
Then, God took humans and put them in a garden and asked them to “work it and take care of it” (Gensis 2:15). We were asked to “subdue” the earth and rule over the animals (Gensis 1:28). Naming the animals was also part of the human’s job in Genesis 2:19-20 (a task that echoes in modern branding, storytelling, and taxonomy work done by humans today). Humans exerting authority over creation, stewarding resources, making decisions, and helping it all bear fruit is a direct reflection of God. Work isn’t part of the curse of sin. It doesn’t post-date the Garden of Eden. It is a God-given gift and part of God’s original design. Sure, the fall made the soil tougher and introduced weeds (they were technically not mentioned before the curse), but our work is part of the plan. This is probably why people have a complete identity crisis when they retire or go through a job transition. Work is good and from the Lord.
Colossians 3 talks about working as for the Lord, no matter the job. There is no distinction between secular and spiritual work, as long as the activities themselves are not explicitly sin (like if your job is to steal or murder or eat from the tree of the knowledge of good or evil, then you probably should reconsider your career choices). In the Bible, there are lots of types of work which are mentioned including preaching, raising children, skillfully playing music, holding political office, creating art, engineering, farming, fishing, and even leadership consulting (see the account in Exodus 17 of Moses’ father-in-law, Jethro, advising Moses to delegate). The parable of the talents in Matthew 25 would imply that making a profit from investments is also work worthy of praise. Again, work is a gift of God and using our talents helps make the world a better place, brings His Kingdom to bear, and glorifies God,
Practice:
Read Genesis 1-3 and reflect on all that it teaches us about work.
Pause:
What specific jobs does God or humans perform in the creation story? Where there any jobs that were more or less important? Any jobs that were more or less spiritual? What might God accomplish through your work for His glory?
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