Laziness: Made To Work - June 10

Read Genesis 2:15

The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.

Reflect

What is your attitude concerning work? Do you view it as a blessing or a necessary evil?

Did you ever look at the need to work and decide that it’s a consequence of Adam and Eve’s disobedience? That, if they hadn’t sinned, we wouldn’t need to work today. It’s a common enough thought that even kids ask about it in Sunday school.

This is probably rooted in thoughts of Genesis 3:17-19 in which God laid out the consequences for Adam and his offspring after his disobedience: “‘Because you 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; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. 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.’”

It’s easy to interpret this verse as saying work itself is a curse on mankind from God. But in reality, God had intended for Adam to work from the very beginning!

Today’s verse is found in the creation account. God had just formed the man out of the dust of the ground and then breathed life into him (Genesis 2:7). After God created Adam, even before He created Eve from Adam’s side, He gave Adam a job to do—He put him in a garden paradise to “work it and keep it”. In giving Adam a job to do, God was dignifying man by giving him purpose and responsibility.

The ESV study bible notes: “Since this command comes before Adam sinned, work did not come as a result of sin, nor is it something to be avoided. Productive work is part of God’s good purpose for man in creation.”

The curse for sin then, isn’t the work itself. Rather, the curse is that the nature of the work changed. Prior to the fall, work had been joyful and productive. Adam tended the ground and it only produced good things. After the fall, the ground produced weeds, thorns, and thistles. Adam’s job got significantly more difficult. By the sweat of his brow, he would labor and toil in order to eat.

Sometimes, we focus so much on the reality that we live in a fallen world, enduring the consequences of sin, that we forget how gracious and merciful God has been to us. Charles Spurgeon, a 19th century theologian and preacher, pointed out: “Although the sentence took away from Adam the luscious fruits of paradise, yet it secured him a livelihood. He was to live: the ground was to bring forth enough of the herb of the field for him to continue to exist. Albeit that henceforth all he ate was to be with the sweat of his face, yet still he was to have enough to eat, and he was to live on.”

Yes, we work so that we can eat and the Bible commands that those who are able to work but choose to be lazy, should not eat (2 Thessalonians 3:10). But work is not a necessary evil. It is a necessary good.

When we go back to the Bible, we see that work was part of God’s plan for mankind since the very beginning. We are made in the image of God and our God is a God who works! In fact, the very first thing we read in Scripture is that God created the whole world in 6 days and “...on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done” (Genesis 2:2).

God modeled His intention for us. We are to work diligently as we fulfill His mandate to fill the earth, subdue it, and have dominion over it (Genesis 1:28), and then we are to rest. We were not created to simply exist. We weren’t made to leisurely wander the earth all of our days. We were made to work.

Respond

Lord, You are a Wonderful Maker and a Merciful Savior. Thank You for the gift of work. What a privilege it is to participate in the work of Your Kingdom! When I feel like being lazy, remind me that work was always a part of Your plan for us. Help me to see the meaning and purpose in all my labor. Amen.

Reveal

Consider how your hard work can be a testimony to others. Colossians 3:23-24 challenges us to “work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men” and 1 Corinthians 10:31 says, “...whatever you do, do all to the glory of God”. In doing so, how might your work ethic and conduct in the workplace reveal the Lord to those around you?