On occasion when I leave home very early in the morning, the road is full of traffic. This can sometimes be long before daylight. I am always encouraged by this because I am reminded there are many people going to work. I have such respect for those who work hard to provide for their families.
The Scriptures tell us:
2 Thessalonians 3:10 If anyone will not work neither shall he eat.
1 Thessalonians 4:11 …to work with your own hands…
Ephesians 4:28 …let him labor, working with his hands, what is good…
One of the most important things a parent can teach a child growing up, is the value of work. I wish I had a magical formula for how to do that. I know asking a child to be responsible for household chores that are age appropriate is important. And as the child ages the work expectations should change as well.
Sam, my 4 year old grandson, tells me that he wants to be a “workerman” when he grows up. When he comes to visit he is always excited if I have work for us to do. I certainly want him to be a workerman when he grows up.
It is apparent our society is filled with many adults who did not learn the value of work as a child. I grew up on a small farm. I often resented having to work while some of my peers did not. Only later did I realize the value of being taught how to work. A good friend once said he stayed awake at night thinking up jobs for his three sons to do.
Some might think that work is from GOD as part of the punishment following man’s sin in the garden. After all Genesis 3 recounts the punishment given to Adam after the fall. Here it is said by the sweat of his face he would eat bread.
But a closer examination of the text reveals that work preceded the fall. Consider the text found in Genesis 2:15. Even before the creation of Eve the text notes that the LORD GOD took Adam and put him into the Garden of Eden, to dress it and to keep it.
The word dress comes from the Hebrew word Abad meaning to work, labor, or toil. The Hebrew word Shamar is translated to keep or to guard it. So yes, work actually preceded sin. Man was given the responsibility to govern the earth and it began by keeping the Garden into which he was placed. It follows that work is not a punishment for sin. And since GOD saw that everything was good, it can thus be surmised that work is a good thing.
And it is noteworthy that this happened before Adam was given a wife. He actually had a home, the Garden, and a job, tending it, prior to taking a wife. Good advice for any young man considering marriage.
Is work a 4 letter word? This is another way of saying, is work a bad word? Well, from the looks of some in our society it certainly appears that way. Scripture however tells us it is a good thing.
One of my favorite passages in the Old Testament comes from the book of Nehemiah. The book chronicles the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem. It is a lesson on working together evidenced by the phrase, “next to him”, found over and over in chapter 3.
The particular passage I want to note is found in Nehemiah 4:6. The entire wall was joined together for the people had a mind to work.
I hope you have a mind to work and can thus be regarded as a “workerman.” Great things can be accomplished when people work together.