Work is important

Work is important. The very first command that God gives humans is to “be fruitful and increase in number” (Gen.1:28). As appealing as snoozing in a hammock indefinitely may be, we were not created simply to exist. Adam and Eve lived in the middle of a garden, surround by all types of animals, birds, fish, trees, flowers, and edible plants. They were told to care for all of creation.

What a job! They needed to be farmers, zoologists,

Botanists, ornithologists and ichthyologists. Not only did they have to keep these created beings beings alive, Adam and Eve also had to establish an environment in which they could grow and increase in number.

Adam and Eve eat the forbidden fruit. It comes before sin enters the world. It comes before Adam and Eve try to hide from their maker. Work is not part of the curse; it is what God designed us for. Clearly we are not to be lazy and wicked servants; we were made to bear fruit.

But does this mean we are to be workaholics? In a word, no. We all have stress in our lives, but it is not always bad stress. Stress, as we recall from our high school physical class is simply force applied to an object is unmoving or unbending.

This pressure-filled lifestyle is just as prevalent among Christians as in the general population. We may proclaim “cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you,”(1 Pet.5:7) but we don’t live it ourselves.

We quote, “My yoke is easy and my burden is light”(Matt.11:30),but we continue to pack heavy burdens on our backs. Christ did for us on the cross and the very great promises we have that we are loved and accepted by God. We must put the brakes on living a driven lifestyle so that we can gain the acceptance of others by what we do.