Scripture to Read: Exodus 20:9
When most people think about work, they do not think about it as something pleasing, joyful, satisfying, or in any other positive light. Back in the 1970s, a popular phrase came to be about work: "Thank goodness it’s Friday!” Of course, people did not use the word “goodness” but used God’s name instead. What people were saying was that they were so thankful their work was over for a little while, but God gave us work as a gift. We mentioned that work is a gift in day one's devotion, and we see it in Genesis 2:15: “Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it.” What happened was that because of sin entering this world, one of the consequences of sin was that work became hard. In Genesis 3, after Adam sinned, this is what God told Adam in Genesis 3:17–19, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’; Cursed is the ground because of you; In toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. 18 “Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; And you will eat the plants of the field; 19 By the sweat of your face you will eat bread…” God did not say He cursed “work,” but He cursed the ground. Work was and still is a gift, but it will be difficult until we are called home.
Challenge & Application
· For people who do not understand that work is a gift from God, how can you help them understand the gift they have?
· How will your attitude change about “work” knowing God called you to work for Him?
Don’t forget to pray using the A.C.T.S. (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication) method!