Notes of Faith October 21, 2024

For the Love of Work

“Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “when the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him who sows seed; the mountains shall drip with sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it.”

Amos 9:13

Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do is the name of a 1974 book by the late journalist and historian Studs Terkel. The author interviewed scores of “ordinary” people to explore how work can result in the discovery of meaning in life—or not.

Because work can be difficult, we often resent it. But because humans were created to work (Genesis 1:26; 2:15), it can be incredibly rewarding. What if work could be both enjoyable and rewarding at the same time? While the Bible doesn’t describe work in the Millennium specifically, we do know that all of creation will reflect God’s created order and purposes without the constraints of sin. The prophet Jeremiah saw it as a time of abundance in the earth with the souls of mankind being “like a well-watered garden” (Jeremiah 31:12).

When work makes you weary, look to the day when your work will be the ultimate expression of God’s gifts and purpose in your life.

A machine can do work; only life can bear fruit.

Andrew Murray

I too, have noticed in many conversations that what one does, or has done (work), is what people talk about. Their life’s work consumes their thoughts and therefore pours out of them most easily. We see this in others more than we see it in ourselves. It does not matter what you do…you are working. Spending time with your family, teaching, playing…in any activity you are sharing your life, wisdom, experience, hopes and dreams with those around you. The truth of God can be shared in all circumstances and is what bears eternal fruit.

Col 3:23-24

Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men.

Pastor Dale