What about Work?

September 3, 2006

Introduction

 

            Tomorrow is Labor Day.  From the Department of Labor website, we have this statement concerning labor day:  “The vital force of labor added materially to the highest standard of living and the greatest production the world has ever known and has brought us closer to the realization of our traditional ideals of economic and political democracy. It is appropriate, therefore, that the nation pays tribute on Labor Day to the creator of so much of the nation's strength, freedom, and leadership — the American worker.”   

 

            An important note needs to be added to this note.  America has enjoyed the great blessings of God.  (Psa 127:1 NKJV)  “Unless the LORD builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the LORD guards the city, The watchman stays awake in vain.”

and in (Psa 33:12 NKJV)  “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, The people He has chosen as His own inheritance.”

 

            Sometimes I’ve heard people refer to work as a four letter word.  That’s really their feeling—that work is a curse, but it isn’t a curse by any means.  Some really think that work is the curse because of sin.  That is not the case.  The curse was the “thorns and thistles that the earth produced.  (Gen 3:17-19 NKJV)  Then to Adam He said, "Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, 'You shall not eat of it': "Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life. {18} Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field. {19} In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return."

What does the Bible say about work?

 

            It’s the thorns, not the work that is the curse.  Before sin, he was to tend the garden.  (Gen 2:15 NKJV)  Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it.  (Gen 2:15 NASB)  Then the LORD God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it.  (Gen 2:15 NIV)  The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.

 

            I think it is clear that work was involved before sin.  It was work without the thistles.

 

Body

 

I.        Jesus worked, and said His Father worked.

 

A.  He gave His Father as an example of His reason for working.

 

(John 5:17 KJV)  But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.

 

  1. He said that He had to work while He had the opportunity.

 

(John 9:4 NKJV)  "I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work.

 

  1. He spoke of work as an important part of our obedience.

 

(Mat 21:28-32 NKJV)  "But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, 'Son, go, work today in my vineyard.' {29} "He answered and said, 'I will not,' but afterward he regretted it and went. {30} "Then he came to the second and said likewise. And he answered and said, 'I go, sir,' but he did not go. {31} "Which of the two did the will of his father?" They said to Him, "The first." Jesus said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you. {32} "For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him; but tax collectors and harlots believed him; and when you saw it, you did not afterward relent and believe him.

II.     Work is part of our way of being responsible.

 

  1. We are to work hard for those who employee us.

 

(Eph 6:5-8 NKJV)  Bondservants, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as to Christ; {6} not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, {7} with goodwill doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men, {8} knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free.

 

  1. We are to provide for our own.

 

(1 Tim 5:8 NKJV)  But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

 

  1. Paul taught that we should work so that we can provide for others as well.

 

(Acts 20:34-35 NKJV)  "Yes, you yourselves know that these hands have provided for my necessities, and for those who were with me. {35} "I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'"

 

III.   We also need to work in the kingdom.

 

A.     It is the story of the talents.

 

(Luke 19:13-26 NKJV)  "So he called ten of his servants, delivered to them ten minas, and said to them, 'Do business1 till I come.' {14} "But his citizens hated him, and sent a delegation after him, saying, 'We will not have this man to reign over us.' {15} "And so it was that when he returned, having received the kingdom, he then commanded these servants, to whom he had given the money, to be called to him, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading. {16} "Then came the first, saying, 'Master, your mina has earned ten minas.' {17} "And he said to him, 'Well done, good servant; because you were faithful in a very little, have authority over ten cities.' {18} "And the second came, saying, 'Master, your mina has earned five minas.' {19} "Likewise he said to him, 'You also be over five cities.' {20} "Then another came, saying, 'Master, here is your mina, which I have kept put away in a handkerchief. {21} 'For I feared you, because you are an austere man. You collect what you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow.' {22} "And he said to him, 'Out of your own mouth I will judge you, you wicked servant. You knew that I was an austere man, collecting what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow. {23} 'Why then did you not put my money in the bank, that at my coming I might have collected it with interest?' {24} "And he said to those who stood by, 'Take the mina from him, and give it to him who has ten minas.' {25} ("But they said to him, 'Master, he has ten minas.') {26} 'For I say to you, that to everyone who has will be given; and from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.

 

  1. The Lord expected each one to do something with what they were given.

1πραγματεύομαι

1pragmateuomai

Thayer Definition:

1) to be occupied in anything

2) to carry on a business

3) to carry on the business of a banker or a trader

 

  1. Paul assured us that our labor would not be in vain in the Lord.

 

(1 Cor 15:58 NKJV)  Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

 

Conclusion

 

I.  We often hear someone say, “Don’t work too hard.”

 

A.   It’s an admonition that many people do not need.

B.   We need a healthy attitude toward work.

  1. It is true that come become “work-aholics”

 

II.  Are we working in the kingdom?  Are we doing the Lord’s work.

 

Scripture quotations marked "NKJV™" are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

 

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