Working because its Right

Over the course of the past couple of decades, America has seen a dramatic change in its work force.  The increase in the technology of distractions (video games, entertainment, etc.) and the growing sense of entitlement has created generations of Americans who either do not know how to work or just don't want to.  It is more than the concept of rest in relation to work.  Rather it is the idea of the value of work.

For starters, there is a significant difference between resting after work, and deciding to be lazy and slothful before ever working at all.  This is a major issue of extreme importance, and if we miss this one, we will never live our lives to the extent that God has for us.

In reality, work and the whole concept of work goes back to the very beginning of time.  When Adam was created, God ordained him for work.  Work marks the days, six on and the seventh off.  It is also work that informs life with purpose and intent.  If we understand that work has not deviated from its origins, then we can begin to understand that to skew our concepts of work isnothing less than disbelief and, dare I say, sin.

For this, the writer of Ecclesiastes, a wise man with wisdom to share, has much to say in this regard:

"Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil which one toils with under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot (Ecc. 5:18)."

Although this is a single passage of Scripture describing the value of work, particularly the worth of enjoying one's work, it is by no means an isolated instance in which work is esteemed for its value.  Instead, this is just a simple and overarching reality of human life.  We, as humans, are made to work just as work has been made for us.  Assessing the purposes and reasons behind are more than this dialogue permits, suffice to say that it is God's will that we work and work with diligence and enjoyment.

Unfortunately, there have been misconceptions of what constitutes enjoyment in our culture.  Our world has misconstrued enjoyment to mean something less-satisfying and more instantly-gratifying, to the detriment of the good that comes from having to work for enjoyment, namely perseverance and character.  Should it be any wonder, then, why the world is inundated with people who lack character and inner fortitude?  Let us then take joy in the toils under the sun all the days of our lives, knowing that God has made us for this and He has purposes for us through it!