Let’s face it, “Work” has a bad name. It is not unusual to hear people say, “That’s why they call it work, right”?

Do you believe that the only work that has value in God’s eyes is “full-time Christian work,” such as serving in the ministry as a pastor or missionary? Do you feel that there is “sacred” or “religious” work and everything else is “secular work,” and that secular work is a necessary evil, just to pay the bills and support your family, and contribute to God’s mission, but having no real value in God’s eyes? Do you think this is the way that most feel about their work, whether it is work they do that is paid, or as a stay-at-home Mom, retiree, or volunteer? I do think that is what many Christians think.

But is work just a necessary evil? I would say no.

As we will see, the Bible has a very high view of work.

In the very first verse of the Bible, we are told that God is a worker:
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1)

On the sixth day, God created man. We are told in verse Genesis 1:27:
So, God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.

After six days of creation, or work, God rested. In Genesis 2:1 we are told:
Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2 And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. 3 So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.

This sets the pattern for us. We are made in His image. He worked six days and rested on the seventh, and thus we should as well.

The workplace has changed significantly from the time I entered it until today, primarily due to technology. There was no email, no smartphones and there were standard beginning and endings to the workday when I began my career. My workplace even had chimes to start and end the day and for the lunch break. Today however, workers are always connected. And many believers use Sunday to catch up on work that has built up from the previous week. What can we learn about work on the Lord’s Day? The Westminster Shorter Catechism states that the Sabbath is to be sanctified by a holy resting from unnecessary labors.

The concept of Sabbath in our always connected world, is a subject that I have been reading a lot about recently and would also be a good one for you to study. My longtime pastor Bob Smart tells us that until we learn to deeply rest and separate ourselves from our work, we will not work effectively. How do you set aside time to worship and rest on Sunday?

Some will say that work is cursed, and it was – after the Fall. But work was given before the Fall. Covenant Seminary professor Dan Doriani states that work was good in the beginning, but sin spoiled it.
In Genesis 2:15, we read:
The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.

As a result of the Fall, we read in Genesis 2:17-19:
¹⁷ And to Adam he said,
“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife
and have eaten of the tree
of which I commanded you,
‘You shall not eat of it,’
cursed is the ground because of you;
in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
¹⁸ thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;
and you shall eat the plants of the field.
¹⁹ By the sweat of your face
you shall eat bread,
till you return to the ground,
for out of it you were taken;
for you are dust,
and to dust you shall return.”

R. Paul Stevens in his book Work Matters: Lessons from Scripture, writes that throughout the Bible we see different images of God as a worker – a gardener (Genesis 2.8), shepherd (Psalm 23), potter (Jeremiah 18:6), physician (Matthew 8:16), teacher (Psalm 143:10), vineyard dresser (Isaiah 5:1-7), a helper (Hebrews 13:6) and metalworker and refiner (Malachi 3:2-3; Ezekiel 22:20) to name just a few. And don’t forget that Jesus was a carpenter before his public ministry.

The Bible has a lot to say about work, both God’s work and our work. Here are just a few passages for you to consider:

The “Creation Mandate”
And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Genesis 1:28)

Jesus is a Worker
Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? (Mark 6:3)

We are to be Good Workers
Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows worthless pursuits lacks sense. (Proverbs 12:11)

We are to do Our Work for the Lord
Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. (Colossians 3:23-24)

We Should Take Joy in Our Work
I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; also, that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil – that is God’s gift to man. (Ecclesiastes 3:12-13)

Is this teaching about the biblical view of work new to you?

Next time, in Part 2, we will finish our overview of the biblical value of work.