Faith @ WorkNäide

What command in Scripture were you obeying this morning when you went to work?

When you get up in the morning and go to work, you are heading out in obedience to God’s command in Genesis 1:28 to fill the earth, subdue the earth, and rule over it. In other words, every job, every task, and every good endeavor you do today, you are doing in obedience to God’s command to govern and be responsible for his creation.

When God created the world, he said his work “was good.” He worked for the sheer joy of working. Our universe is a masterpiece designed by a master craftsman and artist—God.

When God created the world, he created it for you and me, and he created us to be stewards of his world. As God’s vice-regents, through our work, we have the privilege of entering into the story of God’s creative work. He created this world so that, at a macro level, it would survive for millennia. At the micro level, God designed the world to require our continual stewardship. Starting with Adam, God gave him a garden in a corner of creation, with water and animals, and everything necessary for him to tend the garden. Work was part of God’s blessing, God’s goodness, and the environment of the garden. By working in this garden, Adam provided for himself and his family.

From that garden, subsequent generations built the great pyramids in Egypt. Later, the Greek and Roman cultures arose. From that garden, we now have airplanes, trains, cars, medicine, the Internet, McDonald’s, and Starbucks. At the dawn of creation, God foresaw each unique way that humanity would fill the earth, subdue it, and rule over it (Gen. 1:28). It is the work of societies and cultures to help people thrive and flourish in God’s creation.

Before the dawn of creation, God prepared unique good works just for you to do (Eph. 2:10). God created you to be responsible to develop, care for, enrich, explore, cultivate, and govern the corner of the world where you live. He expects and encourages you to maximize creation’s full potential through your work.

Prayer

Almighty God, I praise you for the opportunity you have given me to work in this wonderful world you created. Help me to do my job today with excellence so that your world may continue to flourish. Amen.