Walking with the Wise #184: It's Off to Work I Go

“In all toil there is profit,

but mere talk tends only to poverty.”
—Proverbs 14:23

God made us to work. It’s part of the created order. God worked when He created the heavens and the earth, and since we are made in His image (cf. Genesis 1:27), then we too are made to work. It’s no wonder that the first question we ask when meeting someone is, “What do you do?” We are known by what we do. We take great pride in our work. Have you ever met someone who just got a job? There is jubilation. Why? Because God has made us to work and when we do it well, we are fulfilling part of our responsibility as His image bearers by doing what He has created us to do.

If we work hard at what we do, making every effort to do it to the best of our ability, we will find that our work will lead to profit. It’s how we make money. Industry is wonderful in the sight of God, but if we get lazy or rebellious, only talking about working, then we will see our bank accounts diminish, the bills pile up, and extreme difficulty before us. Talking about getting a job is great, but not doing the work necessary to get it will show our talk to be exactly that—talk.

Do you work? Are you fulfilling your purpose as God’s image bearer by working? If you work, then heed the words of holy Scripture: “If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat”—2 Thessalonians 3:10. May God bring you to shame if you are too lazy or disobedient to get work. Know that if you fail to provide for your house, then you are denying the faith, as the Bible says:

“But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever”—1 Timothy 5:8.

May God enable us all to work, and may we do our work unto the Lord, fulfilling our responsibility as image bearers to do our work unto Him, so that God may receive glory through our work. Amen.