Stewardship Of WorkSample

God Is A Worker 

God was the first worker who created, designed, fashioned, engineered, molded, and crafted the entire universe. The Bible says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1). The first two chapters of Genesis clearly show God actively at work, creating all that exists, and He saw His work as “good” (Gen. 1:10, 12, 18, 21, 25) and “very good” (Gen. 1:31). 

God also continues to work even after the initial week of creation. Paul mentions in Col 1:17 that “in Him all things hold together”. The psalmist declares in Psalm 121:4 that God “who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep”. Jesus Himself says in John 5:17, “My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working.” 

If God is a worker and we are created in His image, how does this truth translate for us today?

1. The fact that God works, shows that work is not evil, since by definition God cannot do evil. This means work must be good in and of itself, since by definition, God can only do what is good.

2. God the worker has made us in his image and therefore work is intrinsic to human nature. Dorothy Sayers wrote, “Work is the natural exercise and function of man—the creature who is made in the image of his Creator.”

3. We are co-workers together with God. We work at our God-given assignments in dependence upon him. Gordon Preece puts our work into proper perspective when he writes: “By seeing our work in the light of God’s work, we can see God’s hand in our everyday tasks. Unless we do so, we will underestimate the importance of God’s work and either worship our work or think it worthless.” 

4. There is no such thing as ‘sacred’ or ‘secular’ work. All work is God’s work. Mark Green defines the wall of the sacred secular divide by saying it is, “the pervasive belief that some things are really important to God and other things aren’t.”

The work of a teacher could be said to reflect something of God’s desire to reveal truth to people. The work of a doctor reflects something of God’s healing power and gift. The work of a musician reflects something of God’s creative ability. The work of a secretary involved in scheduling appointments reflects something of God’s own love of order.

5. Work becomes a crucial point of contact to introduce the work of Christ to a needy world, as according to statistics the average person spends some eighty-eight thousand hours on the job from the first day of full-time employment until retirement. Since work occupies so much of our lives, it is crucial that we use time spent at the workplace for the gospel to interact with others in this sphere of life.

Quote: “The God of the Bible is preeminently a worker.”- Paul Minear  

Prayer: Lord I thank You for showing me that work is not evil but good. Help me to be a good worker as You are. Amen