Walking with the Wise #119: The Worth of Work

“Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread, 

but he who follows worthless pursuits lacks sense.”

—Proverbs 12:11 

We are a culture addicted to pleasure and we are raising a generation that doesn’t understand the meaning of hard work. And that is not limited to young people. My own generation (those born in the early 1960’s through the early 80’s) is one that lives in perpetual adolescence. We were taught that it was okay to be a kid, to pursue fun and pleasure while at the same time avoiding responsibility, and this has been borne out among my peers. Expressions such as “30 is the new 20, and 40 is the new 30” convey the idea that you are only as old as you feel.

Expressions aside, biology cannot be reasoned away. God created us to grow up, work, get married, have children (and that at a certain age cf. Psalm 127:4) and continue to work and teach the next generation about who He is. But that thinking today is considered to be old-fashioned, archaic, and not in step with current thought. But current thought has a very short shelf-life, while God’s Word will endure even after this world doesn’t. Our goal must be to read, meditate on, and apply God’s Word to all of our life. And one way we can follow His Word is by doing our work to His glory.

Speaking to an agrarian society, Solomon informs us that we are to be working our land, which is nothing more than telling us that we need to work the job we have and do it well. If we do, we will have what we need and plenty of it. Contrasting work with worthless pursuits, we are told that the one who puts off work to pursue vain or worthless things lacks sense. Rather than take care of his family and help his community, he pursues endeavors that will only benefit himself, which shows that he lacks sense. If he thought it through, rather than pursue vain pursuits, he would see that his work, though hard and without fanfare, benefits himself and those around him in the long run.

How about us? Are we pursuing the vain things of this world? Are we putting off our work, failing to realize its benefit? Do your work unto the Lord! Know that it is for Him we exist, as Paul wrote, 

“yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist”—1 Corinthians 8:6.

We exist for the pleasure of God, and God delights and blesses us, the more that we delight in Him. And we find our delight in Him by doing that which He desires we do. May the Lord our God, who gave Himself for us, use us to work for His glory, and our joy. Amen.