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OR even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat. 11 For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies. 12 Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread. (2 Thessalonians 3:10-12)
Work is sometimes described as a curse for our sins, but that is not the case. It is more of a God-given benefit to mankind dating from the days of Eden when God place man in the Garden: And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. (Genesis 2:15)
Meaningful work keeps our minds from wandering into fields not worthy of the creature of God. The old English proverb bears the authority of the test of time: Idle minds are the workshop of the devil. In the days in America when every head of household had to labor to provide for his family, and his children, too, found it necessary to pitch in with chores at home, there was less youth violence as well as adult murders and robberies. Men did not have time to feed their imaginations with the gross perversions we witness in today’s society.
Work is not a mark of degradation, or of servitude, but rather an insignia of royalty. Work is very God-like. God labored the first six days of Creation and rested the seventh day from all His labors. The work of God did not end with the end of the Sabbath, but continues continually until now. ¶But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. (John 5:17) The work of the Lord is what purchased our salvation. That work could only be accomplished by the Lord Jesus Christ, however, the role falls to us, as good servants, to labor in the vineyard of the Lord to propagate the Gospel to the far corners of the world. Moreover, the bread we eat comes by labor and diligence.
Even the birds and animals of the forest, as well as domestic animals, must labor to feed themselves and their young. It would be ridiculous to assume that one animal decides to live solely on the labor of others. The lion hunts. The deer searches out the green pastures. The bird searches constantly for provender.
There is a time to work and a time to rest. But in the economy of the Kingdom, work is emphasized in six days to one for rest. By the way, take a serious look at the 4th Commandment: Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God.. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. (Exodus 20:8-11) Does not the Lord COMMAND us to work as well as to rest. We are to work SIX days, and rest the 7th.
Here is an important principle imparted to us by the Lord: I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. (John 9:4) We are children of the day and not of the night. Our works must not be done in shade but in the open sunlight. That is why most US states have ‘sunshine laws’ which means that no deliberation in government can be undertaken in smoke filled rooms apart from the watchful eyes of the citizens. Work while life remains for the long night of death comes when no man can work.
Jesus was no half-hearted worker. He undertook a very sad and painful work the end of which He knew to be the cross: I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. (John 17:4) Jesus did not stop His work until He had finished it at Calvary. He did all the work that His Father had given Him to do. So must we! God has left us in the midst of many wonderful resources for work. No man should feel deprived of the means of labor. Today, through the means of technology, we have greater opportunity than ever before to spread the word of God into the most remote regions of the planet, but have we taken full advantage of those opportunities of technology?
Work for the day comes when our minds and hands will be stilled in the long home, and no more work will be possible.
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