Bible Truths – “TGIM”

“And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.”

Colossians 3:23,24

Work, in the culture we live in, is viewed as a necessary evil.  People do not want to work, but they have to.  Workers put in their time, looking forward to age 65, when they can retire.  People endure the weekday grind, looking ahead to the weekends.  Employees constantly check the clock, pining away for 5 o’clock.  Work, it seems, is a curse that we must endure.  But, is it?

We are created in God’s own image (Gen 1:27).  God Himself was, and is, a worker.  The Bible says that on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. (Gen 2:2)  Our Creator worked.  We are created in His image.  Therefore, we are created to work, as well.

When God made Adam he took the man, and put him in the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. (Gen 2:15)  Keep in mind, this is before sin entered the world.  This is before the world was cursed.  Yet, there was Adam, working in the garden, exactly where God had placed him.  This was the world that God called very good (Gen 1:31).  Man was created to work.  Work is good.

Sin then entered the world, and with it, work became much harder.  Because of man’s sin, God said, “Cursed is the ground for thy sake…thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee…in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground…for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.”  (Gen 3:17-19)  Sin brought death into the world, but it also made our work much harder.  As Christians, we understand that the way the world is now is not the way it was originally created.  The world changed when Adam sinned.  Knowing this, we can look forward to the day when our Lord will return and bring back a perfect world, with no sin and no curse.

Knowing that God is a worker and that He created us to work, should Christians look at work differently than the world?  Absolutely.  The Christians worker has been given motivation to work that the unbeliever simply does not have.  The Bible tells us we should work hard for our employers, not for a raise, not to climb the corporate ladder, not for personal prestige, but in order to glorify our Lord and Saviour.  And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men…for ye serve the Lord Christ.  (Col 3:23,24)  We are also commanded to work, as we are able, in order to give to those in need.  Let him that stole, steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.  (Eph 4:28)

A Bible-following Christian should be an excellent worker.  We understand that whether cleaning toilets or mowing lawns, whatsoever we do, we should do it to the best of our ability.  Ultimately, we are serving our Lord with our work.  Each new day given to us by God is an opportunity to serve Him with our work, knowing that our time on this earth is short.  As Christians, we need to embrace every day and every opportunity to work for our Lord.  The world says only: “TGIF”; we should also be able to say: “TGIM”!

Pastor Lee Smith