Work is not vanity... when you see it in the right light!
King Solomon once said "What does man gain from all his labor at which he toils under the sun?" He was right. Almost all of mankind works for the wrong reasons!
One day I was huffing and puffing away in my lab working through the day. When God spoke to me and said "Son, you don't work to provide for your family or even to earn money." That stopped me right away in my tracks. "So why do I work?" I thought to myself. Suddenly it became crystal clear. "I am the One who provides for your family... not you." If my heavenly Father provides all that my house and I need, then I work for a much deeper reason. I started to wake up to the fact that I was in a certain place to be a blessing. I began to enjoy my daily commute to work, the few relationships I had there and the general pleasure of discovering nature's secrets.
When Joseph was a slave, the Bible mentions that he was a successful man because God was with him. Joseph could have worked the bare minimum required of him without getting a beating and still gotten his rations. He earned no money for his labor, yet because he understood that God was with him always and saw himself as a prosperous man, much favor worked for him as a slave. Eventually he became the prime minister of Egypt, saved his entire clan from starvation and rescued this great civilization from famine.
Paul too had great insight into this truth. He told the Ephesian church that those who were stealing should stop and work with their hands. Whether these guys were just living off the charity and good will of their brothers, involved in illegal trade or just downright thieves, Paul spoke to them as brothers saying they should work so that they "may have something to give to him who has need" (Eph 4:28). Wow! Did you get that? Paul, wanted these men who had no idea that God provided for them, to work so they could become a blessing to others. In effect he was saying something like this "You don't need to beg, steal or trick anybody out of their money. Your Father has given you everything. Stop thinking that you are a needy person and realize you are a benefactor. You are here to bless others!" I think if you started to really change your mind about work it might take you to places you never dreamed of! Or perhaps, just like Joseph, it might be the way to see those too-good-to-be-true dreams come true indeed!
By David RoielWhen Joseph was a slave, the Bible mentions that he was a successful man because God was with him. Joseph could have worked the bare minimum required of him without getting a beating and still gotten his rations. He earned no money for his labor, yet because he understood that God was with him always and saw himself as a prosperous man, much favor worked for him as a slave. Eventually he became the prime minister of Egypt, saved his entire clan from starvation and rescued this great civilization from famine.
Paul too had great insight into this truth. He told the Ephesian church that those who were stealing should stop and work with their hands. Whether these guys were just living off the charity and good will of their brothers, involved in illegal trade or just downright thieves, Paul spoke to them as brothers saying they should work so that they "may have something to give to him who has need" (Eph 4:28). Wow! Did you get that? Paul, wanted these men who had no idea that God provided for them, to work so they could become a blessing to others. In effect he was saying something like this "You don't need to beg, steal or trick anybody out of their money. Your Father has given you everything. Stop thinking that you are a needy person and realize you are a benefactor. You are here to bless others!" I think if you started to really change your mind about work it might take you to places you never dreamed of! Or perhaps, just like Joseph, it might be the way to see those too-good-to-be-true dreams come true indeed!
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