God's Design for MenSample

Working Men

There’s an old proverb that “Idle hands are the devil’s playthings,” and it has consistently proven true.

When men aren’t where they’re supposed to be, not doing what they're supposed to be doing, or simply bored and available, all sorts of bad things can follow.

King David was a prime example of this. At the time of year “when kings go off to war” (2 Samuel 11:1), this King was not doing what he was supposed to be doing, and in his lazing around the palace, he saw a beautiful woman and triggered a series of sinful and tragic events. David wasn’t fulfilling his calling, and in that moment, disaster struck.

Men were made to work—maybe not in the palace, but at something. In today’s key verse, we see that from the very beginning, even before sin entered the world, God created man to work.

Whatever work a man does, it fills his days with purpose, allows him to provide for his loved ones, and contributes to the functioning of society. Work gives a man part of his meaning in life, and even if he doesn’t love the work he is doing, there is still a manly sense of deep fulfillment when a job is done and done well.

Jesus, the perfect Man, was all about working for His Father and fulfilling His will (John 5:17). Although regularly taking time to rest, Jesus found purpose and made the world a better place by working at the tasks God had given Him to complete. The enemy could gain no foothold through idleness; Jesus was too busy to give him that space.

Men are at their best when they find something to do. It matters less about what it is or what it pays and more about whether it is a good use of time and taps into a man’s gifts and talents. When men work hard at what God has given them to do, the enemy has much less room to infiltrate a man’s life.

God’s design for men is that we would use whatever talents and opportunities He has given us to work with the strength He has given us, and that we would do it with gratitude, without grumbling or complaining, thankful that we have the ability to work and that God uses it to provide for and contribute to ourselves and others.

Prayer: Father, thank You for the calling to work! It is not always pleasant, but I pray that You will make me joyful and thankful as I do it. May I be productive and find favor with my employer as I work. Amen.

Reflection: What can you do at work today that would be “next level,” taking what you usually do and doing it even better?