Thank God It's Monday?

The popular cliche Thank God It's Friday seems to sum up the popular American feeling about work. Work is a bitter pill, an inevitable evil, and necessary only as a trade-off to then do what we enjoy. It even seems a badge of honor to hate your job and despise that boss who gave you the opportunity to work in the first place.

Distorted views of work even by Christians have been given spiritual justification. Work is only a result of Adam’s fall we are told. It is nothing more than punishment for sin. When we get to heaven we will just sit around and have continual “Sabbath”. These and other myths have had a devastating effect on both the people and the message of Christ. Here are a few points from scripture:

God established work before the fall. God placed the first humans in the garden to "tend and keep it". This work assignment was given before sin entered the world and God pronounced the curse.

God blesses work even after the fall. If work were evil, God would never encourage people to engage in it. In Colossians 3:23 we are told to "work hard and cheerfully at all you do, just as though you were working for the Lord and not merely for your masters." (Living Bible)

God expected us to enjoy our work! Even Solomon in his most pessimistic moments realized this. “That every man find pleasure in his work - this is a gift of God.” (Ecc. 3:13)
God is saving the greatest rewards for eternity -- and work will be among them. Surprise! The saved will "build houses", "plant vineyards" and "shall long enjoy the work of their hands." (Is. 65:17-25)

Thank God It's Friday relays a secular work ethic. For the Christian, work should be meaningful and an expression of who we are. I Peter 4:10 says that "God has given each of you some special abilities; be sure to use them to help each other, passing on to others God's many kinds of blessings." (Living Bible)

Is your work a method for you to pass God's blessings to you on to others? If not, you need to immediately evaluate why you are doing that work. If you are not serving the Lord in your work, who are you serving?

We often define Work as doing something we don’t want to do and Play as doing what we enjoy. If this is true, then it ought to be easy to eliminate all “Work”. Simply find something you enjoy doing that will also generate an income. Thus the old J. C. Penny quote, “Find a job you love and you’ll never go to work again.” Work and Play are not opposites, but rather, are at the same end of the spectrum. Both should be a fulfillment of how God has designed us and of the desires He has put in our hearts. The opposite of Work is not Play but idleness - not investing ourselves in anything. The Bible talks about the Sluggard or the Slothful. These descriptions are at the opposite end of meaningful Work. Life’s greatest joys are not what one does apart from the work of one’s life, but with the work of one’s life.