The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. [Genesis 2:15 (ESV)]
Today is Labor Day—the unofficial last day of summer. On a day originally intended to celebrate the accomplishments of workers, it’s somewhat ironic that most of us are doing as little work as possible. Nevertheless, whether it’s just making the bed, grilling the burgers, washing the car, or being called in for an emergency surgery, we’ll all do some work today. We appreciate the day off but we’d much prefer a full-blown vacation—with no chores, deadlines, schedules, or business calls, texts, and emails. On the ideal vacation, all we have to do is relax and enjoy ourselves.
Everyday life, however, requires work of some kind. Some days that work might be stimulating but, other days, it can downright boring. While our labor can be enjoyable, it also can be grueling or hectic. Most of our tasks aren’t what we’d describe as fun. Some are physically demanding, others are tedious, and some are just plain gross! The list of tasks seems never-ending and much of the what we did yesterday, we’ll do again today, and probably tomorrow, as well! Nevertheless, work is a gift from God and, quite likely, the gift we least value.
Surveys show that about 60% of our waking hours are spent working in some way or another. The American Time Use Survey estimates that, out of their 16.2 waking hours, the average employed person spends 8.8 hours working at their job, 1.8 hours on household activities, and 1.2 hours caring for others. No matter how much we love our family, doing the laundry, pulling weeds, grocery shopping, changing diapers, and helping the kids with homework is work. With so much of our life spent in labor, God wants us to enjoy our work and, thankfully, he’s given us the ability to do so.
God worked for six days creating the universe, Jesus accomplished the work God gave him [John 17:4], and the Holy Spirit is working in us right now. Because God is inherently good, anything He does is good, so we know work can’t be bad or evil. It’s simply a fact of life. God didn’t put Adam in the garden to sit in a lounge chair and drink margaritas. He gave him a garden to tend and watch over. Work was a gift not a curse but, because of our sin, God’s curse affected our work! It was only after the fall that work became toil, presented difficulties, and was prone to failure and unintended consequences. Work became more important in our lives simply because it took more labor to yield the desired results!
God wants us to enjoy all aspects of life, not just holidays like Labor Day or those two weeks in the sun while on vacation. Holidays and vacations are just the icing on the cake; He wants us to delight in the cake as well. When we work to the best of our ability with an uncomplaining (and appreciative) heart, work becomes a privilege and a way to honor our Heavenly Father.
Lord, we thank you for the gift of labor. Forgive any grumbling, shoddy workmanship, or lackluster effort on our part. Renew us with your Spirit. Fill us with enthusiasm, competence, and fortitude as we work so that the fruit of our labor brings honor to you and joy and self-respect to us.
Work is a blessing. God has so arranged the world that work is necessary, and He gives us hands and strength to do it. The enjoyment of leisure would be nothing if we had only leisure. It is the joy of work well done that enables us to enjoy rest, just as it is the experiences of hunger and thirst that make food and drink such pleasures. [Elisabeth Elliot]
Along with sins of the heart like greed, pride, coveting, anger, and envy, we have jealousy. It’s hard to make a clear distinction between jealousy and envy and, in most cases, the words can be used interchangeably. The difference seems to be that the discontent and resentment of envy is focused outward toward something we desire and the person who has it while the discontent and resentment of jealousy is focused inward toward something we have and want to keep for ourselves. For example, Rachel was envious of Leah because she had given birth to Jacob’s children but both sisters were jealous of one another whenever Jacob slept with the other one. Most often used in the context of romantic relationships and often coming from insecurity, jealousy is a mix of overwhelming possessiveness with a little paranoia on the side.
While the Hebrew word translated as covet, chamad, can mean “take pleasure in,” it also means “ungoverned selfish desire.” Chamad ranges from wholesome delight to illicit craving. It’s not a stretch to see how taking pleasure in something that isn’t yours can lead to desiring it and wanting to acquire it. When David saw Bathsheba on the rooftop, he delighted in her beauty but that delight grew into such desire that he took what belonged to his neighbor. When Achan saw the riches that were to be set aside for God, he coveted the wealth for himself and stole it. When Elisha’s servant Gehazi saw the wealth Namaan brought to his master, he was filled with desire for what wasn’t his to take. Coveting the wealth that Elisha refused to accept, Gehazi chased after Namaan, concocted a lie, and took some of that wealth for himself.
“I’m so busy!” If there’s even a remote possibility that we might be asked to do something we’d rather avoid, we can cut off the request at the pass by starting the conversation with those words. It’s the perfect out. On the other hand, when said to us, we can’t argue with it.
Just as we must not become stumbling blocks to others on their faith journey, we must be cautious of the stumbling blocks we encounter on ours. The Greek word usually translated as “stumbling block” was skandalon. It originally referred to the stick that served as the trigger for a snare trap but, eventually, scandalon developed two meanings. It was both a snare or trap that catches unsuspecting prey as well as something that trips a person and causes them to stumble and fall—in other words, a stumbling block. In both cases, the purpose of the scandalon is to catch its victim unaware!
Having witnessed Jesus’ God-like power over nature when He walked on water, the disciples recognized Him as “the Son of God!” [Mat 14:32] Recognizing Jesus’ divinity, however, did not mean they understood He was the Messiah. While Jesus’ power to heal, multiply food, still storms, and walk on water implied a godlike nature, most 1st century Jews didn’t expect the Messiah to be divine. Expecting a righteous judge and a great political and military leader coming from the lineage of David, they assumed he would be a human being. So, when Jesus asked His disciples who people thought He was, they said John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, or another one of the prophets—godly men who performed miracles, spoke of judgment, and called the people to return to covenant faithfulness.
Devotions of the Heart 